Cars: Sales

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many sales of  (a) petrol- and  (b) diesel-fuelled cars there were in each of the last three financial years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The numbers (in thousands) of petrol and diesel fuelled cars newly registered in Great Britain in each of the last three financial years were as follows:
	
		
			   Financial year 
			  Fuel type  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Diesel 900 910 978 
			 Petrol 1,501 1,435 1,392 
		
	
	These data include all cars that have been newly registered in each financial year and will, therefore, include vehicles that have been imported into Great Britain during this time.

Driving Tests: Motorcycles

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reasons his Department decided to implement the new motorcycle test on 30 March 2009; and  (a) how many and  (b) what percentage of multi-purpose test centres will be operational from that date.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The new motorcycle test was due to be implemented on 29 September in accordance with the EU directive 2000/56/EC. However, the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) recognised that having 38 multi-purpose test centres (MPTCs) operational at the launch of the new test would mean candidates in significant parts of Great Britain would not have the expected access to a MPTC. 58 per cent. of the population would have been able to reach a MPTC within 45 minutes travelling time. Following consideration of representations from motorcycle interest groups, DSA decided to defer implementation for six months to allow consideration of delivery options which might help with the number of locations to offer the test when it was launched.
	Since then we have been consulting on a modular approach to practical motorcycle testing. If adopted, DSA will split the off-road from the on-road part of the test.
	By 30 March, DSA will have in place up to 67 operational sites including part-time and temporary sites for the off-road elements. In addition, there are outstanding planning approvals or legal negotiations on a further five sites that the Agency hopes to have ready in time. Not all of these sites are MPTCs. We will have operational sites in 94 per cent. of the original 66 search areas. This means that 89 per cent. of the population could reach a motorcycle testing site within 45 minutes travelling time. DSA will have 104 locations delivering the on-road test.

Heathrow Airport

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what additional risks have been added to the Heathrow Expansion Risk Register since 9 October 2007; and what the  (a) inherent risk,  (b) measures in place,  (c) residual risk,  (d) status and  (e) further action are assessed by his Department for each risk;
	(2)  what the status is on the most recent edition of the Heathrow Expansion Risk Register of risk  (a) 1.1.2,  (b) 1.1.6,  (c) 1.1.7,  (d) 1.2.1,  (e) 1.2.2,  (f) 1.2.4,  (g) 1.3.1,  (h) 1.3.6,  (i) 1.3.7,  (j) 2.1.1,  (k) 2.1.2,  (l) 2.1.3,  (m) 2.1.4,  (n) 2.1.5,  (o) 2.1.6,  (p) 2.1.7,  (q) 2.2.1,  (r) 2.2.4,  (s) 2.2.5,  (t) 2.2.6a,  (u) 2.2.6b,  (v) 2.2.7,  (w) 2.2.8,  (x) 2.2.9,  (y) 2.2.10,  (z) 3.1.1, (aa) 3.1.2, (bb) 3.1.3, (cc) 3.13, (dd) 3.2.2, (ee) 3.2.1, (ff) 3.3.1, (gg) 3.3.2, (hh) 3.3.3, (ii) 3.3.5, (jj) 3.3.6 and (kk) 3.3.7 as identified by the numbering on the Heathrow Expansion Risk Register as at October 2008;
	(3)  what the most recent edition of the Heathrow Expansion Risk Register records as  (a) measures in place and  (b) further action required in respect of risk (i) 1.1.2, (ii) 1.1.6, (iii) 1.1.7, (iv) 1.2.1, (v) 1.2.2, (vi) 1.2.4, (vii) 1.3.1, (viii) 1.3.6, (ix) 1.3.7, (x) 2.1.1, (xi) 2.1.2, (xii) 2.1.3, (xiii) 2.1.4, (xiv) 2.1.5, (xv) 2.1.6, (xvi) 2.1.7, (xvii) 2.2.1, (xviii) 2.2.4, (xix) 2.2.5, (xx) 2.2.6a, (xxi) 2.2.6b, (xxii) 2.2.7, (xxiii) 2.2.8, (xxiv) 2.2.9, (xxv) 2.2.10, (xxvi) 3.1.1, (xxvii) 3.1.2, (xxviii) 3.1.3, (xxix) 3.13, (xxx) 3.2.2, (xxxi) 3.2.1, (xxxii) 3.3.1, (xxxiii) 3.3.2, (xxxiv) 3.3.3, (xxxv) 3.3.5, (xxxvi) 3.3.6 and (xxxvii) 3.3.7 as identified by the numbering on the Heathrow Expansion Risk Register as at October 2008;
	(4)  what his latest assessment is of the  (a) inherent and  (b) residual risk for (i) impact and (ii) likelihood of occurrence in respect of risk (A) 1.1.2, (B) 1.1.6, (C) 1.1.7, (D) 1.2.1, (E) 1.2.2, (F) 1.2.4, (G) 1.3.1, (H) 1.3.6, (I) 1.3.7, (J) 2.1.1, (K) 2.1.2, (L) 2.1.3, (M) 2.1.4, (N) 2.1.5, (O) 2.1.6, (P) 2.1.7, (Q) 2.2.1, (R) 2.2.4, (S) 2.2.5, (T) 2.2.6a, (U) 2.2.6b, (V) 2.2.7, (W) 2.2.8, (X) 2.2.9, (Y) 2.2.10, (Z) 3.1.1, (AA) 3.1.2, (BB) 3.1.3, (CC) 3.13, (DD) 3.2.2, (EE) 3.2.1, (FF) 3.3.1, (GG) 3.3.2, (HH) 3.3.3, (II) 3.3.5, (JJ) 3.3.6 and (KK) 3.3.7 as identified by the numbering on the Heathrow Expansion Risk Register as at October 2008;
	(5)  with reference to the Heathrow Expansion Risk Register, what change there has been to his Department's assessment of  (a) inherent risk,  (b) measures in place,  (c) residual risk,  (d) status and  (e) further action required since the October 2008 update to the register in respect of closed risk (i) 1.1.1, (ii) 1.1.3, (iii) 1.1.4, (iv) 1.1.5, (v) 1.2.3, (vi) 1.2.5, (vii) 1.3.2, (viii) 1.3.4, (ix) 1.3.5, (x) 1.4.1, (xi), 1.4.2, (xii) 1.5.1, (xiii) 1.6.1, (xiv) 1.6.2, (xv) 1.6.3, (xvi) 2.2.3 and (xvii) 3.3.4.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The risk register to which these questions relate was one of the tools used to manage a project which concluded with the publication, on 22 November 2007 of the consultation "Adding Capacity at Heathrow". The project board has not therefore met since October 2007, and no further versions of the risk register were produced after this date.

Heathrow Airport: Railways

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the proposed high-speed link from Heathrow to Scotland to come into operation.

Paul Clark: The Government's ambition are for a north-south high-speed rail line from London. As a first stage, the Government believe that there is a strong case for a new line between London and the West Midlands serving a Heathrow international interchange station. Direct high-speed services could make use of the new line and the conventional rail network to serve destinations in the north of England and Scotland, cutting journey times and increasing capacity.
	The company, High Speed Two, has been created to advise Ministers on a credible, detailed plan for a new line to the West Midlands, and beyond with specific route options, by the end of 2009. Until this advice is available, it is not possible to determine when high-speed rail services could come into operation.

Rolling Stock

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much rolling stock operates on  (a) Northern Rail,  (b) London Midland and  (c) franchises providing commuter services in London and the South East.

Paul Clark: The quantity of rolling stock operating on Northern Rail, London Midland and franchises providing commuter services in London and the South East is outlined in the following table.
	
		
			  Operator  Number of passenger vehicles in service December 2008 
			  (a) Northern 663 
			  (b) London Midland 508 
			  (c) c2c 296 
			 NXEA 1,039 
			 FCC 659 
			 Chi Item 156 
			 FGW 609 
			 SWT 1,339 
			 Southern 1,141 
			 South Eastern 1,328

Speed Limits: Accidents

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what evidence his Department holds on the effectiveness in reducing accidents of  (a) 20 miles per hour zones and  (b) other speed restrictions.

Jim Fitzpatrick: There exists a wide range of research which identifies the link between vehicle speed and accident risk. This answer identifies the key papers.
	The Transport Research Laboratory conducted two reviews of 20 mph zones in 1996 and in 1998.
	Both reports showed that 20 mph zones with traffic calming achieved an average 9 mph reduction in vehicle speeds and a 60 per cent. reduction in accidents whereas in those areas where there was little or no traffic calming, reductions in vehicle speeds were minimal.
	For speed restrictions more generally, the Transport Research Laboratory published a review of non-UK studies in 1994 which established a link between vehicle speed and the risk of accidents. This indicated that, in broad terms, a 1mph reduction in average speed can reduce accident risk by around 5 per cent.
	In 2000 the Transport Research Laboratory published a report investigating whether this general rule could be applied to different types of UK roads and to further understand the relationship between vehicle speed and accident frequency.
	The report concluded that for each 1 mph reduction in average speed the percentage reduction in accident frequency is between 2-7 per cent. depending on vehicle speeds and the nature and layout of the road.

Written Questions: Administrative Delays

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to reply to Questions  (a) 246918,  (b) 246917,  (c) 246775 and  (d) 246919, on the Heathrow Expansion Risk Register, tabled on 18 December.

Jim Fitzpatrick: A reply has been given to the hon. Member today.

Olympic Games 2012: Construction

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Minister for the Olympics pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2008,  Official Report, column 879W on Olympic Games 2012: construction, what RAG rating has been applied to the  (a) budgetary and  (b) timescale elements of the Olympics construction programme in each of the last six months.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 22 January 2009
	It is not our policy to release the RAG ratings contained in confidential reports to the Olympic Board as, in isolation, they could be misinterpreted. When reporting to the Olympic Board, RAG ratings reflect the risks that exist, as well as progress to date, and these have recently focused primarily on financial challenges as a consequence of the current economic situation, as reflected in my statement of 22 January. Construction works over the last six months have continued to be delivered within the budget and on programme.

Olympic Games 2012: Finance

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Minister for the Olympics pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2008,  Official Report, column 879W on Olympic Games 2012: finance, what level of contingency was  (a) requested and  (b) granted in relation to the (i) additional seating requirements in the handball arena and (ii) the additional building works in the Olympic Stadium.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 22 January 2009
	The details of contingency releases to date will be contained in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games annual report, due to be published next month, and in subsequent quarterly financial updates.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the answer of 14 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 738-39W, on Iraq and Afghanistan: peacekeeping operations, what the reasons are for the four-month period between the withdrawal of Merlin helicopters from Iraq and their planned redeployment to operations in Afghanistan.

John Hutton: holding answer 22 January 2009
	 It is essential that all personnel are fully trained for the demanding operational conditions in Afghanistan ahead of any deployment. The majority of the preparation for the redeployment of Merlin from Iraq to Afghanistan is taking place while the Merlin Force remains committed to Iraq. However, certain key aspects of the flying training cannot be conducted until the equipment deployed in Iraq is released from theatre.

Armed Forces: Health

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the  (a) required,  (b) actual and  (c) actual personnel medically fit for purpose total is for (i) each battalion of the infantry (ii) 1 Rifles, (iii) 40 Commando Royal Marines, (iv) 42 Commando Royal Marines and (v) 45 Commando Royal Marines.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 22 January 2009
	 The figures requested for the infantry are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Div  Unit  Required strength  Actual strength  Fit for purpose strength 
			 Guards 1 Grenadier Guards 632 549 502 
			  1 Coldstream Gds 626 511 511 
			  1 Scots Guards 685 548 519 
			  1 Irish Guards 633 602 575 
			  1 Welsh Guards 626 584 540 
			  
			 Scots 1 Scots 630 554 508 
			  2 Scots 627 476 451 
			  3 Scots 629 575 546 
			  4 Scots 686 588 538 
			  5 Scots 657 561 535 
			  
			 Queens 1 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment 682 683 657 
			  2 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment 623 524 503 
			  1 Royal Regt Fusiliers 686 677 650 
			  2 Royal Regt Fusiliers 623 505 423 
			  1 Royal Anglian 658 733 710 
			  2 Royal Anglian 629 627 613 
			  
			 Kings 1 Lancs 658 670 634 
			  2 Lancs 612 607 570 
			  1 Yorks 629 519 500 
			  2 Yorks 623 489 469 
			  3 Yorks 686 626 592 
			  
			 PoW 1 Mercian 628 523 487 
			  2 Mercian 623 564 538 
			  3 Mercian 658 594 541 
			  1 Royal Welsh 623 543 522 
			  2 Royal Welsh 686 625 579 
			  
			 Rifles 1 Rifles 534 542 477 
			  2 Rifles 623 619 583 
			  3 Rifles 623 634 628 
			  4 Rifles 655 647 633 
			  5 Rifles 686 712 672 
			  
			 RI 1 Royal Irish 650 571 528 
			  
			 Para 2 Para 648 677 624 
			  3 Para 648 662 660 
			  
			 RGR 1 Royal Gurkha Rifles 643 739 720 
			  2 Royal Gurkha Rifles 758 925 896 
		
	
	In addition to the battalions shown above there are three incremental guards companies which are primarily for public duties but which can also be used to augment the other guards battalions as required;
	
		
			  Unit  Required strength  Actual strength  Fit for purpose strength 
			 N Coy Grenadier Gds 108 109 105 
			 7 Coy Coldstream Gds 108 90 90 
			 F Coy Scots Guards 108 108 105 
		
	
	The figures in both tables include personnel filling all roles within each battalion, not just infantrymen. Fit for purpose has been interpreted as fit for primary role.
	The figures for the Royal Marines Commandos Units specified are as follows:
	
		
			  Unit  Required strength  Actual strength  Fit for purpose strength 
			 40 Cdo RM 703 555 521 
			 42 Cdo RM 703 703 649 
			 45 Cdo RM 703 824 790

Armed Forces: Manpower

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2009,  Official Report, column 17, what the evidential basis is for his statement that there has been an overall improvement in recent times; and if he will place in the Library all relevant figures on harmony guidelines.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 19 January 2009
	Maintaining Harmony helps to relieve the stress and burden on our armed forces and their families. Consequently, the Service Chiefs expend considerable effort in increasing intervals between operational tours intervals and maintaining the Harmony Guidelines. As I stated in the House on 12 January 2009, breaches of the Harmony Guidelines have decreased, albeit not as quickly as I would have hoped for but, I am confident that the trend is heading in the right direction and that the Service Chiefs have measures in place to monitor and address the breaches while maintaining operational capability. The first table following gives an indication of mean unit tour intervals, which shows that the Royal Artillery, Royal Signals and the Royal Logistic Corps units are suffering greater commitment than most. However, the unit tour interval does not reflect the degree of trickle posting of personnel through these units or how much separation an individual incurs.
	
		
			   Average tour interval 
			   2007  2008 
			   September  October  November  December  January  February  March  April  May  June 
			 Infantry 23 22 22 23 23 23 23 27 27 24 
			 RAC 24.1 24 24 26 26 26 26 26 26 25 
			 RA 19.1 18.5 18.5 18.5 18.5 18.5 18.5 21 21 21 
			 RE 26.9 26.9 26.9 26.9 26.9 26.9 26.9 26.9 26.9 26.9 
			 R SIGNALS 19.6 19.6 19.6 19.6 19.6 19.6 19.6 19.6 19.6 19.6 
			 RLC 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 
		
	
	The second table identifies the level of separation (Harmony), which incorporates all activities, such as training, support to operations and courses that take service personnel away from their family and friends.
	The current levels of Individual Harmony show that:
	Less than 1 per cent. of Royal Navy/Royal Marines personnel were in breach of the single service guidelines.
	Owing to the introduction of the Joint Personnel Administration system, it is not possible at present to identify the exact level of breach of the Harmony Guidelines in the Army. Validated data will not be available until January 2010 but, for administrative purposes, the percentage is currently being held at 10.3 per cent. the last figure in which we can have confidence before the introduction of the new system. However, every effort is being made by all levels of the chain of command to ensure that soldiers are not overly committed.
	The level of RAF breaches shows a significant drop from 9.4 per cent. to 6.1 per cent. The degree of change has been brought about by an amendment to the reporting criteria. The RAF Harmony Guideline has changed from 140 days separation in a 12 month period to 280 days in a 24 month period. Without increasing the level of separation commanders now have greater flexibility to deploy personnel on career courses, education and adventure training without breaking the Harmony Guideline.
	
		
			   Percentage of total personnel who have breached Individual Harmony 
			RN  Army  RAF 
			 2002-03 Q1 <1 (1)— 5.3 
			 2002-03 Q2 <1 (1)— 5.4 
			 2002-03 Q3 <1 (1)— 5.1 
			 2002-03 Q4 <1 (1)— 5.0 
			  
			 2003-04 Q1 <1 (1)— 6.8 
			 2003-04 Q2 <1 (1)— 6.2 
			 2003-04 Q3 <1 (1)— 6.2 
			 2003-04 Q4 <1 18.1 5.4 
			  
			 2004-05 Q1 <1 17.0 3.6 
			 2004-05 Q2 <1 16.8 3.8 
			 2004-05 Q3 <1 15.5 3.6 
			 2004-05 Q4 <1 15.5 3.9 
			  
			 2005-06 Q1 <1 15.6 4.1 
			 2005-06 Q2 <1 15.3 4.1 
			 2005-06 Q3 <1 15.1 4.2 
			 2005-06 Q4 <1 14.5 3.9 
			  
			 2006-07 Q1 <1 14.0 2.9 
			 2006-07 Q2 <1 13.4 1.7 
			 2006-07 Q3 <1 12.4 5.2 
			 2006-07 Q4 <1 10.3 6.2 
			  
			 2007-08 Q1 <1 10.3 6.7 
			 2007-08 Q2 <1 10.3 9.2 
			 2007-08 Q3 <1 10.3 10 
			 2007-08 Q4 <1 10.3 9.2 
			  
			 2008-09 Q1 <1 10.3 9.4 
			 2008-09 Q2 <1 (2)10.3 (3)6.1 
			 (1) No record. (2) This is a holding figure as there is currently insufficient data held on JPA—this should become available in January 2010. (3) This reflects the changes in the reporting baseline—the RAF Harmony Guidelines has changed from 140-/12 to 280/24 and is now reported against a 0 level threshold.

Athena Mechanism

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what changes have been made to the Athena Mechanism in the last six months.

Bob Ainsworth: A number of changes have been made to the Athena mechanism in the last six months. The resulting revised Athena mechanism document 16561/08 dated 16 December 2008 has been published and can be found within the Council of the European Union's website at:
	http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/08/st16/st16561.en08.pdf.
	I can confirm that the UK was successful in delivering our key goal of ensuring that the eligibility for common funding remained within previously agreed levels.

Defence Equipment

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the McKinsey and Co study Transforming the UK's Defence Procurement System.

Quentin Davies: Yes. I will arrange for a copy to be placed in the Library of the House.

Departmental Air Travel

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, column 253W, on departmental air travel, whether staff who travel in a cheaper class than that to which they are entitled receive a  (a) personal and  (b) pecuniary benefit from doing so.

Kevan Jones: Ministry of Defence or Defence Agency staff entitled to first or business class air travel may travel at a lower class if they wish. Where employees travel outside their entitlement, they receive no personal or pecuniary benefit for doing so.

Departmental ICT

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the answer of 24 November 2008 to the hon. Member for Chesterfield,  Official Report, columns 897-8W, on departmental ICT, 
	(1)  how many of the principal operators of the  (a) 65 memory sticks lost or stolen from his Department in 2008 and  (b) 11 memory sticks recovered by his Department in 2008, had security clearance to enable then to access (i) confidential, (ii) secret and (iii) top secret information;
	(2)  how many of the principal operators of the  (a) 120 laptops lost or stolen from his Department in 2008 and  (b) 26 laptop computers recovered by his Department in 2008, had security clearance to enable then to access (i) confidential, (ii) secret and (iii) top secret information;
	(3)  how many of the principal operators of the  (a) 12 desktop computers lost or stolen from his Department in 2008 and  (b) the desktop computer recovered by his Department in 2008, had security clearance to enable then to access (i) confidential, (ii) secret and (iii) top secret information;
	(4)  how many of the principal operators of the  (a) 74 hard drives lost or stolen from his Department in 2008 and  (b) five hard drives recovered by his Department in 2008, had security clearance to enable then to access (i) confidential, (ii) secret and (iii) top secret information.

Bob Ainsworth: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Manpower

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the answer of 12 November 2008,  Official Report, columns 1176-77W, on departmental manpower, whether civilian staff who are allocated to the redeployment pool are required to relocate to  (a) permanent and  (b) temporary positions in specific parts of the country.

Kevan Jones: Generally, full-time civilian staff at band D and equivalent and above have a full mobility obligation. All part-time staff and those below band D have a minimum mobility obligation, within the travel to work area. All civilian staff, whether in the redeployment pool or not, may be required to transfer within the terms of their mobility obligation, which may be to a permanent or temporary position.

Nuclear Weapons: Ex-servicemen

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many settlements have been made by his Department of claims made by British nuclear test veterans;
	(2)  for which medical conditions his Department has accepted liability in relation to British nuclear test veterans;
	(3)  what reviews have been undertaken by the Government of the claims for compensation of British nuclear test veterans in the last 30 years;
	(4)  how much compensation has been paid to British nuclear test veterans to date.

Kevan Jones: The Ministry of Defence has not settled any common law claims for compensation relating to participation in the British nuclear testing programme of the 1950s and 1960s. The MOD does, however, have a long established war pension scheme which pays no-fault compensation in the form of tax-free pensions and allowances for ex-service personnel injured or made ill as a result of their service before 6 April 2005. There are no time limits for making a claim under the war pension scheme. The scheme is administered by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA). Information on awards under the scheme is published quarterly by the Department's Defence Analytical and Services Agency (DASA) derived from data from the war pension computer system. That data does not enable injuries or illnesses to be linked to service at a particular location. It is not, therefore, possible to identify payments made to British nuclear test veterans under the war pension scheme. Nor is it possible to say how much has been spent on war pensions to nuclear tests veterans.
	The Department is committed to compensation policy and individual decisions reflecting case facts and the relevant law, which are evidence based and in line with contemporary medical and scientific understanding. To meet this commitment there is routine scrutiny of the published peer reviewed literature and any other evidence of suitable quality.
	When considering a claim for a war pension the facts of each case are considered on their individual merits. The test of proof is unique to the war pension scheme and is preferential to the claimant. It is more advantageous than the normal civil test of proof. In a war pension claim made more than seven years after leaving service there has to be no more than reliable evidence to raise a reasonable doubt that there is a connection between service and the claimed condition.
	For nuclear test veterans, entitlement may be given under the war pension scheme for leukaemia, other than chronic lymphatic leukaemia, and polycythaemia rubra vera, in both cases where the condition arose within 25 years of presence at a nuclear test. This is based on the findings of the three National Radiological Protection Board epidemiological studies on mortality and cancer incidence of nuclear test participants 1952 to 1998 (published in 1988, 1993 and 2003). For these conditions, entitlement relates to presence at the sites and not exposure to ionising radiation. Otherwise the studies concluded that levels of mortality and cancer incidence in participants and controls were similar, with overall mortality less than expected from national rates.
	A war pension, however, may be awarded in any individual case where the evidence shows that the individual is suffering from a recognised radiogenic disease and was exposed to a significant level of ionising radiation. It is important to note that the overwhelming majority of British nuclear test veterans received a "zero" dose of ionising radiation.

Pirates

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made towards reaching an international agreement on a legal framework for the detention and trial of pirates.

Bob Ainsworth: Piracy is a crime of universal jurisdiction which any state is entitled, as a matter of international law, to prosecute. However it remains for individual countries to ensure legislation, or suitable arrangements, are in place for the detention and trial of pirates.
	In line with UN Security Council Resolution 1851, the inauguration of the International Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia took place on 14 January to discuss an international response to piracy. The Contact Group was attended by 24 countries and five organisations, including UK representatives. One of the key focus areas is strengthening judicial frameworks for arrest, prosecution and detention of pirates, exploring regional arrangements, bilateral arrangements, and international judicial systems. A working group is taking forward discussions on this important issue.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles deployed by the Royal Air Force are fitted with precision munitions.

Quentin Davies: RAF Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles are capable of carrying 5001b laser guided bombs and Hellfire air to surface missiles. The actual weapons fitted during each operational deployment can and does vary and will be tailored to meet the operational requirement.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1053W, on unmanned air vehicles, what drone systems were procured prior to the purchase of the Reaper system in the last 10 years; and at what cost.

Quentin Davies: I have taken the term "drone" to mean Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) rather than aerial target drones. The information requested is contained in the following table.
	
		
			  Year of procurement  System  Cost (£ million) 
			 2003 Desert Hawk 1 0.95 
			 2003 Buster 0.28 
			 2005 Desert Hawk 1+ 2.8 
			 2006-08 Desert Hawk III 8.1 
		
	
	In addition to the systems listed above, the Hermes 450 UAS was declared In Service in July 2007. The Hermes 450 is not owned by MOD but is provided through a service provision contract with a Thales/Elbit consortium.
	The ongoing Watchkeeper tactical UAS procurement programme, worth about £900 million, began in 2005.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2008,  Official Report, column 485W, on agriculture: subsidies, how the £10,000 for additional costs was allocated.

Jane Kennedy: holding answer 12 January 2009
	The £10,000 figure put against 'additional costs' was the estimate for dealing with 'appeals' against penalties imposed by the Rural Payments Agency on applicants who had a breach of cross compliance reported by the Environment Agency (EA). This relates to the time spent by the EA team in head office and the area inspector involved with the case.
	The figure is an estimate as no direct cost measurement is in place.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the administrative cost of processing an individual claim under the single farm payment scheme was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jane Kennedy: holding answer 14 January 2009
	The average administrative cost of processing an individual Single Payment Scheme claim in 2007-08 is estimated at £742.
	This figure was obtained by considering the direct processing costs and the total number of claims received. It is not however representative of the actual costs of processing individual claims because in practice, these vary in complexity and thus processing effort required to validate and pay.

Animal Welfare: Prosecutions

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2008,  Official Report, columns 1070-1W, on animal welfare: prosecutions, what steps are being taken 
	(1)  to increase the number of prosecutions for those abusing animals;
	(2)  to reduce the numbers of animals being abused.

Jane Kennedy: The introduction of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 has already had a significant impact on improving the welfare of animals. We believe the new welfare offence, tightening up the law relating to animal fighting and ending the loopholes that allowed miscreants to circumvent disqualification orders introduced in the Act will help reduce the number of animals being abused. We are also currently in the process of producing new codes of practice for keeping dogs, cats and horses. These will help educate the public as to how to better keep their animals. We are also working on new secondary legislation under the Animal Welfare Act to help protect the welfare of racing greyhounds, and new codes of practice on the keeping of primates by private collectors and the rearing of gamebirds.

Bluetongue Disease: Copeland

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the likely effect of a bluetongue outbreak on agricultural livestock in Copeland constituency.

Jane Kennedy: The symptoms of bluetongue and its potentially high mortality rate represent a significant threat to livestock welfare. Infection rates tend to be greater in cattle, but symptoms and mortality are generally more severe in sheep (studies in Europe suggest up to 30 per cent. mortality for BTV8).
	No data is available on the likely effect of a bluetongue outbreak on agricultural livestock in Copeland constituency. However, we have worked in partnership with industry through the Joint Campaign Against Bluetongue to encourage vaccination, the only effective tool against bluetongue, in Cumbria and across the country.
	The effects of bluetongue will be minimised in a vaccinated herd or flock. In unvaccinated livestock, given the experience in continental Europe, the effects of Bluetongue, and the economic consequences, could be significant.

Bovine Tuberculosis

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what evidence there is of any link between the incidence of bovine tuberculosis herd breakdowns and the intensification of dairy farming.

Jane Kennedy: No specific research has been carried out to assess the link between bovine tuberculosis (TB) herd breakdowns and the intensification of dairy farming.
	Surveillance data routinely collected and analysed by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency indicates that confirmed incidence in dairy herds is no higher than for other herd types when herd size is controlled.
	Philips 'et al' in their 2000 report on the role of cattle husbandry in the development of a sustainable policy to control 'M. bovis' infection in cattle recognise that cattle farming systems have increased in the intensity of production in recent decades, with increased milk yield and growth rates of cattle. However, they draw no conclusions between this and an increase in risk of Bovine TB herd breakdown. This report is available on the DEFRA website.
	While there may be a correlation between variables related to the intensification of dairy farming, such as increased herd size and risk of TB (e.g. Goodchild and Clifton-Hadley 2001), TB has a complex epidemiology and due to the number of variables that contribute to the risk of a TB breakdown, it is not practically possible to isolate the direct impact of one measure.
	Goodchild, AV and Clifton-Hadley, RS (2001). Cattle-to-cattle transmission of  Mycobacterium bovis. Tuberculosis 81 (1/2): 23-41.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent progress has been made towards distinguishing between vaccinated and infected  (a) cattle and (b) wildlife in relation to bovine tuberculosis.

Jane Kennedy: Tests to differentiate infected from vaccinated animals (so called 'DIVA' tests) have been developed under DEFRA funded project SE3222: Development of improved diagnostic tests for detection of bovine TB, which is due to report this year. This work will be continued under project SE3233: Cattle TB Vaccine: Development of a DIVA test.
	A DIVA test for cattle is required because vaccines based on BCG will potentially make cattle react to the current tuberculin test as if they were infected with  Mycobacterium bovis ( M. bovis). Badgers and other wildlife are not routinely tested for TB and therefore there is no need to develop a DIVA test for use in this species.
	Further information about these DEFRA funded projects is available on the DEFRA website.

Disease Control: Finance

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to announce his policy on animal health cost-sharing following his Department's consultation on the matter; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: We plan to consult on specific proposals for implementing responsibility and cost sharing for animal health shortly.

Dogs: Animal Breeding

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Kennel Club on plans to improve dog breed health.

Jane Kennedy: Officials and my predecessor have had discussions with the Kennel Club on ways to improve the health of pedigree dogs before, during, and since the Animal Welfare Act was passed in 2006. I also welcome the Kennel Club's decision to carry out a joint review with the Dogs Trust of dog breeding.
	I have met the Kennel Club and Dogs Trust to discuss.

New Technologies Demonstrator Programme

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the New Technologies Demonstrator Programme in diverting biodegradeable municipal waste from landfill;
	(2)  how many waste projects contract payments were  (a) reduced and  (b) delayed under the New Technologies Demonstrator Programme;
	(3)  how many waste projects under the New Technologies Demonstrator Programme had  (a) cost overruns and  (b) start-up dates later than those originally proposed;
	(4)  how many waste projects under the New Technologies Demonstrator Programme were completed in accordance with their original contract;
	(5)  how much his Department paid out under the New Technologies Demonstrator Programme (Waste Implementation Programme) in each year of the programme.

Jane Kennedy: The objective of the New Technologies Demonstrator programme (NTDP) is to provide impartial information and impart industry experience to waste stakeholders on new innovative technologies not yet established in England. The intention is to overcome the real and perceived risks and barriers of introducing such technologies in England. This is being achieved through the provision of impartial technical, environmental and economic information and performance data for the project facilities. This includes real experiences of planning and permitting, reaching financial closure and on wider issues such as informing policy development, for example the renewables obligation.
	An assessment of the effectiveness of the programme can only truly be made once all the technical and commercial information has been derived from the facilities and through the successful deployment of similar technologies in England over the coming years. This will also be ultimately achieved through assessing the total volume of wastes diverted from landfill.
	The programme runs until 31 March 2009 and following this date impartial technical papers will be produced on the performance of the facilities, which are being written under the guidance of the Technologies Advisory Committee.
	DEFRA has a commercial contract with each project, and payments are made against the achievement of milestones related to agreed deliverables, not to specific dates.
	Most of the facilities had start up dates later than originally proposed, due to a variety of technical and commercial reasons.
	DEFRA is only providing a contribution to the final costs of each project. We therefore do not hold information on the project's own cost overruns.
	Of the total nine projects, two have withdrawn and one has completed in accordance with their contract with DEFRA. We do not envisage that all of the remaining six projects will complete their full contractual requirements by 31 March 2009 and as such there will be reduced payments made where this is the case.
	
		
			   Amount paid out by  DEFRA  (£) 
			 2006-07 4,145,797 
			 2007-08 9,728,367 
			 2008-09 to date 5,781,592

Arts

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the annual growth rate of the creative industries was in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Andy Burnham: holding answer 20 January 2009
	 The annual growth rate of the creative industries in the UK for each of the last three years for which figures are available was as follows:
	
		
			   Percentage 
			 2005-06 -3 
			 2004-05 5 
			 2003-04 6 
			  Source: DCMS Creative Industries Economic Estimates—based on Annual Business Inquiry data (ONS). 
		
	
	The drop in growth rate from 2005 to 2006 is the result of drops in GVA for the advertising, publishing and software sectors, which are among the largest of the creative industries.
	However, these data are taken from sample surveys and are subject to sampling errors. Therefore too much emphasis should not be placed on fluctuations in the figures.
	These rates do not include crafts and design as figures are not available for these sectors.

Big Lottery Fund: Property

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what  (a) buildings and  (b) land are leased by the Big Lottery Fund; and what estimate has been made of the value of these assets.

Barbara Follett: The Big Lottery Fund have advised that they do not own any buildings or land but they are legal tenants of properties which they sub-let, all of these leases are short-term operating leases, and therefore no value is assigned to them by the Big Lottery Fund.
	Big Lottery Fund is the legal tenant of the following offices, which are sub-let to others:
	1st, 2nd and 3rd Floors
	1 Plough Place
	London
	EC4A 1DE.
	Ground Floor (Part)
	Apex House
	3 Embassy Drive
	Birmingham
	B15 1TR.
	3rd Floor
	Dominion House
	Guildford
	GU1 4BN.
	Elizabeth House
	Chesterton
	Cambridge
	CB4 1YW.
	2-4 Cockspur Street
	London
	SW1Y 5DH.
	6th Floor
	Baron House
	4 Neville Street
	Newcastle
	NE1 5NL.

Departmental Art Works

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Angus of 21 April 2008,  Official Report, columns 1737-8W, on departmental property, what the  (a) title and  (b) Government Art Collection reference number was of the art work stolen from his Department in 2006.

Barbara Follett: The works of art listed in the following table were prints reported as missing from various Government offices in the UK and around the world and recorded in DCMS's Losses Register in 2006.
	
		
			  Title  GAC number 
			 Paradox No. IV GAC 12096/15 
			 Blackfriars from Southwark Bridge GAC 3295 
			 Lower Wessex Lane, Summer GAC 12360 
			 Lower Wessex Lane, Spring GAC 12254 
			 Strand on the Green GAC 6016 
			 Third day of Creation GAC 12705 
			 Gondola III GAC L983 
			 Hall of Christ Church Hospital GAC 15326

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many special advisers were employed in his Department at each pay band on 30 November 2008; and what his Department's total expenditure on special advisers was in 2007-08.

Andy Burnham: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 15 January 2009,  Official Report, column 870W, by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Watson).

Digital Radio Working Group: Manpower

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many of his Department's staff have provided support for the Digital Radio Working Group.

Andy Burnham: The Digital Radio Working Group (DRWG) were supported by up to four members of staff, with a varying degree of their time allocated to the project; taken together their time represented a full time equivalent of 1.4 posts.

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport with reference to the answer of 1 July 2008,  Official Report, column 880W, on departmental non-departmental public bodies, on how many occasions bodies for which his Department is responsible requested authority to incur expenditure above the delegated limits set out in their financial memoranda in the last 12 months.

Andy Burnham: In the last 12 months, my Department received 19 requests from our non-departmental public bodies for approval to incur expenditure above the delegated limits set out in their financial memoranda.

Royal Parks: Nature Conservation

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps the Royal Parks Agency is taking to protect wildlife in London's Royal Parks.

Barbara Follett: The Royal Parks advise that they take a range of steps to protect wildlife in all the sites under their care and management, and each of the Royal Parks has a management plan which incorporates ecological objectives.
	The Royal Parks also advise that they carry out regular ecological surveys to provide data to inform management practice; biannual assessments and ongoing projects to improve the ecological quality of major water bodies; and where appropriate, employ consultants for specialist work. They also work in partnership with relevant organisations and with central Government to inform management and planning.
	Although all parks staff receive training in wildlife management as required the Royal Parks also employ staff with specialist skills and knowledge who have specific responsibility for wildlife protection and biodiversity enhancement and directly protect wildlife through a range of works. Projects include feeding wildlife in extreme weather, physically protecting vulnerable habitats, and providing nest and roost boxes for birds and bats.
	The Royal Parks also create areas of conservation priority habitat, such as reed-beds, and manage and restore other habitats of biodiversity importance. The parks also include protected areas of land, such as Richmond Park which is a National Nature Reserve (NNR) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Management of these sites are undertaken in accordance with best practice and relevant legislation.

Sport England: Public Appointments

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport with reference to the answer of 30 October 2008,  Official Report, column 1226W, on Sport England: public appointments, on what date the previous chairman left the employment of Sport England; and by what date he expects to appoint a new chairman and deputy chairman.

Andy Burnham: The previous chair of Sport England, Derek Mapp, resigned on 29 November 2007. Sport England board member, Michael Farrar, has been acting as interim chair since December 2007. The process to appoint a new chair and deputy chair is currently in progress and we expect to appoint a new chair by March and a deputy chair soon after. Both of these ministerial appointments will be made following an open competition regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Visit Britain: Consultants

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much Visit Britain spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last five years; and which companies provided these services.

Barbara Follett: VisitBritain has provided the information in the table for spend on recruitment consultants:
	
		
			  Financial year  Cost of recruitment agencies 
			 2003-04 £262,578.32 
			 2004-05 £343,080.59 
			 2005-06 £346,885.31 
			 2006-07 £237,647.94 
			 2007-08 £323,997.97 
		
	
	The recruitment companies used were:
	360 Degrees Advertising
	A. T. Kearney Ltd.
	Absolute Appointments
	Accountants On Call
	Acme Appointments
	Adia Alfred Marks
	Agents Support Systems
	Barringer Technical
	Berliner Morgenpost
	Bhavya Enterprises
	Bond St. Personnel
	Branded Limited
	Brightwater Total
	British Council Hungary
	British Council Trading
	Catho Group
	Charles Summers Ltd.
	Commerce Partners Group
	Computer Futures Solutions
	Crystal UK Ltd.
	Dagnely
	Demel Limited
	Department of Culture Media and Sport
	Dezainwerkz Pte Ltd.
	Discover Momentum ll
	El Pais
	Elle Recruitment
	Emma Publishing
	Expat Web Services
	Fasco
	Foretagens
	GCS computer recruitment
	Glen info recruitment
	Gobal Solutions Ltd. (gsl)
	God People Ltd.
	Gafenstein freizeit
	Fafton Recruitment
	Hadfield Recruitment
	Haymarket Media Group
	Hays Human Resources
	Headway Recruitment
	Heron Solutions Ltd.
	HR-com
	Huntress Recruitment
	Llya pinassi
	Imprint Consulting Limited
	Info Edge (India) pvt Ltd.
	Inspired selection
	Javelin/Young and Rubicam Ltd.
	JFL search and selection
	Job DB Singapore pte
	Jobs DB Hong Kong Ltd.
	Jobstreet.com
	Jugglers publishing
	JWT Specialised Communications
	Kapoor Systems Limited
	Kershaw Leonard
	Knightsbridge Secretaries
	Koukoku no Gendai
	KP Personnel Ltd.
	Latpro.com
	Lindy Williams Ltd.
	Manpower
	Manpower KFT
	Manpower UK Ltd.
	Market Research Society
	Media Centrix
	Medialabor
	Meteorite Marketing
	Michael Page UK Ltd.
	Monster
	Monster Worldwide SC
	Monster Worldwide
	Monster.be
	Monsterboard.nl
	Monstertrak
	Morgan Hunt Public Sector Ltd.
	Mortimer Spinks
	Nationalevakature
	Office Angels Ltd.
	Originals
	Ortus/EMR group
	P.E. corporate
	Park Hyatt Toronto
	Pathfinders
	Pathway Resourcing
	Personnel Resources
	Poolia Parker Bridge
	Progressive Recruitment
	Public Relations Institute
	PW Recruitment Ltd.
	Recruitment International
	Red Pepper Advertising
	Reed (Elsevier)
	Reed Personnel Services
	Robert Half Ltd.
	Robert Half Technology
	Robert Walters Operations
	Rogers Publishing Ltd.
	RP Cushing Ltd. Total
	Sarah Buldum
	SCMP Publishers
	Seek Limited
	Seriously Digital
	Sigmar Recruitment Ltd.
	Student Employment Services Ltd.
	Tabs on Travel Ltd.
	tfpl Ltd.
	The British Council
	The EMR Group (Ortus)
	The Media Network
	The Mersey Partnership
	The Stopgap Group
	The Tourism Society
	Toronto Star
	Touchstone
	Tourism management
	Transition hrd consultants
	Travel courier
	Travel personnel
	Travelads total
	Travelweek
	Trident Hilton
	Tusma e.v.
	Uday advertisers
	Vacature
	Variety, Inc.
	VMA Group
	Wendy's Travel Personnel
	Williams (Hong Kong)
	Work Station Solutions
	Young Executive Recruitment
	Young Samuel Chambers Ltd.

Departmental Correspondence

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many  (a) letters and  (b) e-mails received by the Government Equalities Office had not been responded to as at 15 December 2008.

Maria Eagle: At 15 December 2008, 30 letters from Members of Parliament to Government Equalities Office Ministers and 38 Treat Official and e-mail inquiries had not yet been responded to.

Political Levy

Francis Maude: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what information the House of Commons authorities provide to Commons staff on workers' rights to opt out of the trades union political levy.

Nick Harvey: The House Service does not provide staff with information on their right to opt out of the trades union political levy. The Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform advises that individual unions must immediately inform their members if they wish to set up a political fund and give them the right to "contract out" of paying the levy if they wish to do so.

Departmental Pay

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many bonuses were awarded to senior civil servants working at his Department and its agencies in  (a) 2007 and  (b) 2008; and what was spent on such bonuses in each of those years.

Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 21 January 2008,  Official Report, columns 1512-13, to the hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr. Mitchell).

Sub-Saharan Africa: Malaria

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress his Department has made in sub-Saharan Africa towards meeting targets on the provision of bed nets by World Malaria Day in 2010.

Ivan Lewis: Progress on halting and reversing the spread of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa has not been sufficient and there is a high risk that the target under Millennium Development Goal 6 will be missed. However, there has been some significant progress in some African countries. In Eritrea, Rwanda and Sao Tome and Principe, deaths from malaria have been halved by following the recommended measures, including providing bednets. Of the 647 million people at risk in Africa, the percentage protected by bednets rose from 3 per cent. in 2001 to 26 per cent. in 2006.
	Between 2000 and 2007 the Department for International Development (DFID) funded approximately 40 million bednets worldwide (mostly for sub-Saharan Africa) and we estimate that these will have saved 660,000 lives. Over the course of 2008-11 we will provide at least 20 million bednets in sub-Saharan Africa and it is estimated that these should save 330,000 lives.
	Our support towards the provision of bednets is usually part of a larger package of measures to improve health and to combat malaria, through a number of programmes and health sector approaches which include the purchase and distribution of bednets. It is therefore difficult to disaggregate the costs of the bednets alone. For example, we contribute to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) who estimate that they financed 120 million bednets between 2001 and 2006, during which period we provided approximately 8.7 per cent. of GFATM financing.

Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission: Debts

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 25 November 2008,  Official Report, column 1368W, on the Child Support Agency, if he will place in the Library a copy of the overview of the Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission's policy on negotiating the recovery of debt.

Kitty Ussher: The Commission's current policy in negotiating arrears settlements with non-resident parents has been placed in the Library. However, it is worth noting that this guidance is under constant review and members having future queries should refer this to the Commission.

Departmental Advertising

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints about advertisements sponsored or funded by his Department were made to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in each year from 1997 to 2008; and how many of these were upheld by the ASA in each year.

Jonathan R Shaw: Between 1 January 1997 to 21 December 2008, 164 complaints about 122 cases were raised with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) about advertisements sponsored or funded by the Department of Work and Pensions. None of these complaints was upheld.
	This information was provided by the ASA.
	Broadcast advertising complaints only became the responsibility of the ASA in 2004. Complaints prior to that date were handled by the Public Affairs team at Ofcom. These figures exclude data on broadcast advertising between November 2004 and May 2006. Changes in the ASA database systems in this period mean that extracting this information would incur disproportionate cost.
	The ASA has stated that breaking the figures down into yearly totals would incur disproportionate cost.

Departmental Sick Leave

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2008 to question 245661, how many days staff took as sick leave from  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies in the 12 months from 1 December 2007 to 30 November 2008; what the average number of working days lost per staff year in his Department and in each agency was during that 12 month period; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: The information was contained in my earlier answer on 13 January 2009,  Official Report, column 575W, in the table headed 2008-09.
	In the notes to the previous answer, it was stated that the information contained in the table 2008-09 covered the period from December 2007 to November 2008.
	The following table provides the required information.
	
		
			  Data for 12 month period from 1 December 2007 to 30 November 2008 
			  Business  Working days lost  Average working days lost per staff year 
			 Jobcentre Plus 643,445 9.7 
			 Disability and Carers Service 52,429 9.6 
			 The Pension Service 100,445 9.4 
			 Other, including central directorates 73,781 6.8 
			 DWP 870,100 9.3 
			  Notes: 1. The table reflects data currently held on the Department's personnel computer system. 2. The averages shown are the average per full time staff year, rather than per employee, to take account of part-time workers. 3. Any difference between the sum of the agency figures and the total for DWP is due to rounding.

Health and Safety Executive: Greater London

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of the 326 Health and Safety Executive staff in London, identified in How and Where We Work, were still working in Rose Court at the end of November 2008; and how many of them are expected to be doing so by the end of March 2009.

Jonathan R Shaw: There were 351 HSE staff in London (including loans, secondments, career breaks and long-term special leave) identified as being within the scope of the How and Where We Work Programme at November 2007. The figure of 326 is the full-time equivalent of the 351 identified in the outline business case.
	At the end of November 2008 there were 199 in-scope HSE staff working in Rose
	Court.
	On the basis of confirmed staff intentions, it is expected that 162 in-scope staff will be working in Rose Court at the end of March 2009.

Incapacity Benefit

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 25 November 2008,  Official Report, column 1382W, on incapacity benefit, what the total monetary value of the benefits paid to claimants whose recorded diagnosis includes drug dependency was in each of the last five years.

Jonathan R Shaw: Drug dependency does not of itself confer entitlement to incapacity benefits. The medical assessment of incapacity for work is the personal capability assessment. This assesses the effects of a person's condition on their ability to carry out a number of everyday activities relevant to work. A majority of people with a recorded diagnosis of drug dependency also have other diagnoses, for example mental illness, which results in their incapacity for work.
	We do record the diagnosis of incapacity that is written on a claimant's medical certificate. The available information is in the table.
	
		
			  Estimated incapacity benefits expenditure on claimants whose diagnosis includes drug dependency (nominal terms) 
			   £ million 
			 2003-04 186 
			 2004-05 189 
			 2005-06 188 
			 2006-07 190 
			 2007-08 195 
			  Notes:  1. Incapacity benefits includes incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance payable to working-aged adults. 2. Figures include incapacity related income support expenditure for Credits Only claims. 3. Figures are rounded to the nearest £ million. 4. Estimates are based on information from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study and published DWP benefit expenditure tables. 5. The expenditure figures are consistent with PBR 2008. DWP benefit expenditure tables can be accessed at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp

Jobcentre Plus: Recruitment

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 25 November 2008,  Official Report, column 619W, on employment, how many staff he estimates will be recruited to  (a) full-time and  (b) part-time (i) temporary and (ii) permanent positions in Jobcentre Plus; how many of these appointments will be made from staff originally recruited to support the introduction of employment support allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Mel Groves:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question in reference to his Statement of 25 November 2008, Official Report, column 619W, on employment, how many staff he estimates will be recruited to (a) full-time and (b) part-time (i) temporary and (ii) permanent positions in Jobcentre Plus and how many of these appointments will be made from staff originally recruited to support the introduction of Employment Support Allowance. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	We are still planning for the impact of the Pre-Budget Report announcements at the moment. In practice, we try to accommodate applicants' preferences for working patterns, subject to business needs. Currently, around 35 per cent of the staff in Jobcentre Plus work part time and we anticipate a similar proportion of part time staff amongst our new recruits.
	We plan to recruit the majority of people to fixed term appointment contracts, normally for 1-2 years, although there will be local variations and this will include some permanent appointments. There will be periods of the year, at the start and during the summer months, where we recruit temporary staff to cover known peaks of work or scheduled leave. Currently, we do not plan to recruit significant numbers of temporary staff outside these periods.
	We are unable to identify through our Resource Management reporting system whether someone has been recruited specifically for Employment and Support Allowance backfill. However, in the first quarter of 2009, we anticipate converting up to 300 staff from temporary to permanent contracts, and although it is not possible to say how many may apply for permanent appointments, we encourage people to do so.
	Current Civil Service Commission rules mean that someone on a temporary contract can only secure a permanent appointment by applying through fair and open competition via one of our recruitment exercises. The Civil Service Bill allows for some recruitment flexibilities. One of these is the capacity to convert temporary employees to permanent status by a fair and objective process approved by the Civil Service Commissioners. This applies to employees at Administrative level at or after 12 months employment. DWP is currently writing a submission to the Commissioners on the process it proposes to use for the conversion of up to 300 temporary staff.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 12 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 2-4WS, whether he plans to revise the  (a) savings and earnings disregards and  (b) tariff income applied to jobseeker's allowance claimants' savings;
	(2)  if he will suspend the business assets disposal rule for new customers applying for jobseeker's allowance;
	(3)  if he will  (a) suspend and  (b) revise the (i) savings disregards, (ii) earnings disregards and (iii) tariff incomes for savings for jobseeker's allowance (JSA) customers moving from contribution-based JSA to means-tested JSA in 2009-10.

Tony McNulty: There are no plans to change the income and capital rules used when determining eligibility to jobseeker's allowance.
	The additional funding for this Department announced in last year's pre-Budget report and other measures have helped to ensure that people continue to leave jobseeker's allowance quickly, the great majority within six months of claiming. The new measures announced on 12 January will provide additional help for people who are still unemployed after six months. The Government's aim are to do everything they can to help people into jobs.

Parliamentary Questions: Government Responses

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to respond substantively to  (a) Question 241441, on provision of emergency support for Jobcentre Plus customers, tabled on 4 December 2008 and  (b) Question 245228, on payment of child maintenance to parents with care, tabled on 15 December 2008; and what the reason is for the time taken to reply is in each case.

Kitty Ussher: I replied to the hon. Member's questions  (a) 241441 on 22 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 1443-44W, and  (b) 245228 on 21 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1687W. I apologise for the delay in replying to these questions, which was due to the time required to conduct and check the relevant analysis.

Winter Fuel Payments: Sight Impaired

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 17 September 2008,  Official Report, column 2226W, on sight impaired: disability living allowance, how much it would cost to extend the winter fuel payment to the same group of people with severe sight impairment.

Jonathan R Shaw: Winter fuel payments are made to people aged 60 or over. The cost of such a change would depend on the precise definition used. On the same basis as used in the previous question, the estimated annual cost of extending winter fuel payments to all people under 60 with severe sight impairment is £4 million.
	This estimate is based on a £200 winter fuel payment.

Alcoholic Drinks: Antisocial Behaviour

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many penalty notices were issued to persons who were drunk and disorderly in Essex in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: Data on the number of Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) issued to persons aged 16 and over for being drunk and disorderly, in the Essex police force area from 2004 to 2007 are given in the following table. Data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
	
		
			  N umber of Penalty Notices for Disorder issued to persons aged 16 and over for offences of being drunk and disorderly( 1)  in the Essex police force area, 2004 to 2007( 2) 
			   Number 
			 2004 738 
			 2005 672 
			 2006 905 
			 2007 478 
			 (1) Data includes the following offence descriptions and corresponding statutes: Being found drunk in a highway or other public place, whether a building or not, or on licensed premises—Licensing Act 1872, section 12; Being guilty while drunk of disorderly behaviour—Criminal Justice Act 1967, section 91. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit

Alcoholic Drinks: Young People

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people aged  (a) under 16 and  (b) between 16 and 19 years old received penalty notices for disorder for being drunk and disorderly in 2007.

Alan Campbell: Data on the number of Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) issued to persons aged between 16 and 19 for being drunk and disorderly in 2007 are given in the following table. Data on the number of PNDs issued are published for persons aged 16 and over only.
	
		
			  N umber of Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) issued to persons aged 16 to 19 years for offences of being drunk and disorderly( 1) , England and Wales, 2007( 2) 
			  Age  Number 
			 16 936 
			 17 2,111 
			 18 4,182 
			 19 3,989 
			 (1) Data includes the following offence descriptions and corresponding statutes: Being found drunk in a highway or other public place, whether a building or not, or on licensed premises—Licensing Act 1872, section 12; Being guilty while drunk of disorderly behaviour—Criminal Justice Act 1967, section 91. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit

Crimes of Violence: Hillingdon

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of violence against the person were recorded  (a) in total and  (b) per 100 population in (i) Uxbridge constituency and (ii) the London borough of Hillingdon between 1997 and 2008.

Alan Campbell: The available data relates to recorded offences of violence against the person in the Hillingdon Basic Command Unit. Data at Basic Command Unit level for violence against the person is only available from 1999-2000. Data for Uxbridge is not collected centrally.
	
		
			  Table 1: Recorded offences of violence against the person in the Hillingdon Basic Command Unit -1999-2000 to 2001-02( 1) 
			   Number of offences  Rate per 100 population 
			 1999-2000 3,713 1.5 
			 2000-01 4,094 1.6 
			 2001-02 4,766 1.9 
			 (1) The data in this table is prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Recorded offences of violence against the person in the Hillingdon Basic Command Unit—2002-03 to 2007-08( 1) 
			   Number of offences  Rate per 100 population 
			 2002-03 4,983 2.0 
			 2003-04 5,222 2.1 
			 2004-05 5,921 2.4 
			 2005-06 6,261 2.5 
			 2006-07 5,911 2.3 
			 2007-08 5,882 2.4 
			 (1) The data in this table takes account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.

Immigration: Appeals

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what proportion of appeals against determination by the UK Border Agency and its predecessors were successful in each of the last 10 years.

Bridget Prentice: I have been asked to reply.
	The latest figures are available from the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 2007 ("Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2007"), which was published in August 2008. This bulletin indicates that, between 1998 and 2007, (a) 874,885 appeals were lodged with the asylum and immigration tribunal, or its jurisdictional predecessors, against decisions by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Home Department and (b) 250,930 of those appeals were allowed (comprising asylum, in-country, entry clearance and other non-asylum cases). The bulletin only provides figures between the years of 1997 to 2007 as figures for 2008 are not yet available.
	It should be noted that the following figures relate to immigration adjudicator/judge decisions and do not include immigration appeals tribunal decisions or asylum and immigration tribunal reconsiderations of appeals for each of the last 10 years as this information is not available in the published bulletin.
	
		
			   Total determined  Allowed  Proportion (percentage) 
			 1998 38,200 5,200 14 
			 1999 28,610 7,630 27 
			 2000 27,130 5,960 22 
			 2001 56,815 13,335 24 
			 2002 84,260 21,910 26 
			 2003 108,350 29,025 26 
			 2004 109,220 34,245 31 
			 2005 100,250 30,440 30 
			 2006 167,310 54,860 32 
			 2007 154,740 48,365 31 
			 Total 874,885 250,930 29 
			  Notes:  1. Prior to April 2005, the figures are based on data supplied by the Presenting Officers Unit within the Home Office. From April 2005 the figures are based on information supplied by the Ministry of Justice.  2. The figures for 1997, 1999, and 2000 are rounded to the nearest 10, figures for 1998 rounded to the nearest 100, and figures for 2001 onwards are rounded to the nearest five. All percentages are calculated by the Ministry of Justice using the figures contained in the bulletin and are rounded to the nearest whole number.  3. The bulletin states that some of the figures provided for 2005 and 2006 have been revised. It also states that the figures for 2007 are provisional only.

Police and Community Support Officers: Crosby

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) police officers and  (b) police community support officers there were in Crosby in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: The available data for the Basic Command Unit of Sefton are given in the following table. Data are not collected by parliamentary constituency.
	
		
			  Police officer and police community support officer strength (FTE)( 1)  for the Basic Command Unit( 2)  of Sefton as at 31 March in the given years 
			   Police officers  PCSOs( 3) 
			 2003 433 — 
			 2004 440 — 
			 2005 479 — 
			 2006 505 - 
			 2007 523 57 
			 2008 501 68 
			 (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (2) Data by BCU was first collected in 2002-03. (3) Police community support officer data at BCU level was first collected in 2006-07.

Police: Standards

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to her statement of 4 December 2008 on police targets,  Official Report, column 158, which targets have been removed.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 22 January 2009
	The Policing Green Paper—From the Neighbourhood to the National: Policing Our Communities Together—stated that
	"with one exception the Home Office will neither set nor maintain top-down numerical targets for individual police forces—a significant gesture of trust and reduction of bureaucracy."
	The Government have already removed the targets for the police that concerned frontline officers the most, such as the target to bring more offences to justice. Following the Green Paper announcement, the Government have removed centrally set, top down targets for police forces relating to efficiency, and the 10-year race employment targets come to an end at 31 March 2009, when a final report against a centrally set progression target will also be made.
	Going forward, we will expect police authorities to set their own local targets on these issues.
	The Government have also set multi-agency targets for Local Criminal Justice Boards (LCJBs) for 2008-09 on enforcement (including fail to appear (FTA) warrant enforcement, community penalty breach enforcement and licence recall), asset recovery and the Persistent Young Offender pledge. LCJBs are multi-agency partnerships which include the police, and LCJBs' targets measure jointly the performance of the police and their partner agencies. In response to the Policing Green Paper, there will be no top-down numerical targets for LCJBs for 2009-10. Instead, LCJBs have been asked to set their own local targets according to local priorities and circumstances.
	The one remaining target the Government will set for police forces will be on confidence that they and their partners are tackling the crime and antisocial behaviour issues that matter most locally.

Proceeds of Crime: Terrorism

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to the public purse of operating the suspicious activity reports regime has been since its creation.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 14 January 2009
	Suspicious activity reports (SARs) are submitted to the UK Financial Intelligence Unit (UKFIU) of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). Approximately £20,080,465 has been spent on the operation of the UKFIU since April 2006, when SOCA assumed responsibility for it. This figure includes the running costs of the SARs Transformation
	Project, an IT-enabled business change project focused entirely on improving the SARs regime.
	In addition, the overhead costs associated with running estates and IT for the UKFIU in 2008 was approximately £1,280,000.

Prostitution

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research her Department has  (a) undertaken,  (b) commissioned and  (c) evaluated on the average age at which people first enter prostitution; and if she will place in the Library a copy of each such piece of research.

Alan Campbell: The Government's consultation paper on prostitution, "Paying the Price", provides a summary of research on the age of first involvement of prostitution. This paper is available at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/paying_the_price.pdf?view=Binary.

Prostitution: Crimes of Violence

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions there were for violent offences in cases where the victim worked as a prostitute in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006,  (c) 2007 and  (d) 2008.

Alan Campbell: This data is not available centrally.

Prostitution: Rape

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions there were for rape in cases where the victim worked as a prostitute in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006,  (c) 2007 and  (d) 2008.

Alan Campbell: The information requested is not available centrally. The data held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on court proceedings does not contain information about the circumstances behind each case beyond the description provided in the statute under which prosecutions are brought. It is therefore not possible to identify rape offences where the victim was a prostitute.

Community Relations: Finance

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much of the £3 million innovation and challenge fund she announced on 10 December 2008 will be allocated in 2009-10 and 2010-11; what the criteria for awarding grants will be; what the maximum grant size is expected to be; who will administer the fund; what the annual administration costs of the fund are expected to be; how grants from the fund will be evaluated; and if she will make a statement.

John Healey: The £3 million challenge and innovation fund is for the financial year 2009-10 only. The criteria for awarding grants; the maximum grant size; fund administration; annual administration costs; and grants evaluation will be published in due course.

Departmental Pay

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many bonuses were awarded to senior civil servants working at her Department and its agencies in  (a) 2007 and  (b) 2008; and what was spent on such bonuses in each of those years.

Sadiq Khan: The numbers of bonuses paid to all senior civil service staff and the cost of these in 2008 and 2007 are given in the following table:
	
		
			  Senior civil servants (SCS)  Number of bonuses  Cost of bonuses (£) 
			 2008 111 856,932 
			 2007 104 686,000 
		
	
	The bonuses are non-consolidated, non-pensionable cash payments that reward excellent performance during the year, based on a judgment of how well an individual has performed relative to their peers. Senior civil service staff members are assessed against a range of factors, such as:
	The achievement of their prime objective which focuses on the way in which they lead, manage and develop their staff;
	Degree to which business objectives are met;
	Delivery for Ministers;
	Demonstration of skills such as judgment, leadership and the PSG skills;
	Effective resource management
	Details of bonuses paid in the Department's agencies is not held centrally.

Departmental Personnel

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 18 June 2008,  Official Report, column 948W, on departmental personnel, what the current figure is for staff without posts or in the career transition centre or in a people action team in  (a) her Department,  (b) its agencies and  (c) each of the Government Offices for the Regions; how many of the staff without posts were classified as such after returning from maternity leave; and how many of the staff without posts have been classified as such for (i) at least six months and (ii) at least 12 months.

Sadiq Khan: My information is that there are currently no staff without posts in my Department, its agencies or the Government offices.

Fire Services: Contracts

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 10 December 2008,  Official Report, column 196W, on public sector: contracts, whether general break clauses have been included in the contracts for regional fire control rooms.

Sadiq Khan: Break clauses are not included in the contracts for regional control rooms for reasons of national resilience and to provide continuous public service.

Home Information Packs

Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2008,  Official Report, column 1047W, on home information packs, if she will make gas safety certificates a mandatory part of home information packs where a gas supply is present.

Margaret Beckett: No. A gas safety certificate is authorised for inclusion in the HIP where one exists and the seller wishes to include it. The new property information questionnaire (PIQ) includes information on the service history of heating systems. The PIQ will be completed by sellers and will become a required HIP document from 6 April 2009.

Home Information Packs

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer from the Minister of State for Housing in the Communities and Local Government Committee on 23 October 2008, Q16, on home information packs, what recent discussions the Minister of State has had on  (a) the updating of home information packs and  (b) the period of validity of home information packs from the date of commission; with which authorities she has had discussions; what conclusions she has reached; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: The stakeholder panel, which I chair, meets regularly to consider how to improve the home buying and selling process, including home information packs. My announcement of 8 December sets out, and makes clear how we plan to improve the content of HIPs to help realise their full potential for consumers. In particular, I have asked Ted Beardsall to convene a working group to consider local property searches. The group will consist of industry and consumer representatives and will consider consumer's needs, utility and presentation of existing searches information. We will also be working with RICS and other key stakeholders to look at how to ensure consumers receive appropriate information about a property's condition.

Homes and Communities Agency: Finance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the start-up costs of the Homes and Communities Agency were; and if she will give a breakdown of the cost of its administration in its first year since establishment.

Margaret Beckett: The costs of the Homes and Communities Agency are set out in the Housing and Regeneration Bill-Impact Assessment, a copy of which is in the House Library. This states that the one-off cost of setting up the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) will be £20 million over three years.
	A break down of the 2008-09 administration running costs of the HCA is provided in the following table. This gives the full HCA budget for 2008-09 for the reason set out in my response to hon. Member on 19 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1076.
	
		
			   2008-09 (12 months)  (£ million) 
			 Staff pay costs 59 
			 Administration costs 10 
			 Office rental and accommodation costs 8 
			 Professional fees and temporary staff 4 
			 IT and telecommunications 4 
			 Corporate marketing 1 
			 Total 86

Local Government Finance

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2008,  Official Report, column 1049W, on local government finance, what estimate she has made of the resources required by local authorities in England to carry out their proposed new responsibilities for strategic commissioning of education for 16 to 18-year-olds; and what discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues in the Department for Children, Schools and Families on the matter.

John Healey: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 18 December 2008,  Official Report, column 1049W. My Department maintains a regular dialogue with other Departments at both ministerial and official level on policies which affect local government, including resource implications.

Departmental Freedom of Information

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many people who have made requests to his Department under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 have been waiting for longer than  (a) four,  (b) eight and  (c) 12 months to receive the information they requested.

Tom Watson: The Ministry of Justice publishes statistics on Government Department's handling of requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This includes details of the timeliness of the responses to requests. The statistics are available on the MOJ website:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/freedomof informationquarterly.htm
	and copies are available in the Library of the House. The specific information requested by the hon. Member can however be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many UK personnel are working for the UN assistance mission in Afghanistan.

Bill Rammell: The UK strongly supports the work of the UN assistance mission in Afghanistan (ANAMA), and we work closely with them there, including through our embassy in Kabul. UNAMA employs 16 British citizens directly. While no Government personnel are currently employed with UNAMA, we are holding discussions with them on providing further UK staff to the mission.

Czech Republic: EU Presidency

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the Czech Republic's agenda for its Presidency of the EU.

Caroline Flint: The Czech presidency of the EU began on 1 January and ends on 30 June 2009. The Czech government have said that over the next six months the presidency will focus on energy, external and economic issues. The priorities of the Czech presidency are very much in line with Government objectives and we look forward to working with the Czech government and our other EU partners on these issues. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office produces a Command Paper on each EU presidency every six months and this will be laid before the House before the end of January. It will also be placed in the Library of the House and on the FCO website at:
	www.fco.gov.uk.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Armed Conflict

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the implementation of the ruling of the International Court of Justice of 19 December 2005 on Uganda; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: holding answer 14 January 2009
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received no recent reports on the implementation of the ruling of the International Court of Justice of 19 December 2005 on Uganda.

European Union

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which officer in the UK Permanent Representation to the EU (UKRep) determines which  (a) reports and  (b) e-grams (i) originating in and (ii) received by UKRep are circulated to the EU offices of the devolved administrations; and if he will publish the protocols which apply to decisions on such matters.

Caroline Flint: The duties of the UK Permanent Representation to the EU(UKRep) (and Whitehall departments) to share information with the Devolved Administrations are detailed in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), (available on the Ministry of Justice website), specifically Annex B, the Concordat on coordination of European Union Policy Issues.
	UKRep and the Devolved Administration EU Offices are in regular and open communication on all EU business which touches upon matters which fall within the responsibility of the Devolved Administrations. All members of staff within UKRep concerned with these matters share information with the EU Offices of the Devolved Administrations under the terms of the MOU.

Iran

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts in advance of the forthcoming Council of Ministers meeting on the delisting of the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran from the EU terror list following the judgement of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 4 December 2008.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 22 January 2009
	We have discussed the CFI judgment and the current review of the EU list of terrorist organisations with EU partners.
	We have made clear that we believe the Council should respect the judgment of the Court of First Instance annulling the listing of the PMOI when conducting its review
	We expect a decision on a new list by the end of January.

Iran: EC External Relations

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs following the recent decision of the Court of First Instance, if he will make it his policy to vote against the continued inclusion of the People's Mujahadeen of Iran on the EU blacklist.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 17 December 2008
	We have made clear our view that EU member states must respect the Court of First Instance's judgment annulling the listing of the People's Mojahedin of Iran in the current review of the EU list of terrorist organisations. The review continues and a decision on the new list will be taken before the end of the month.

Sudan: Peace Negotiations

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has had discussions with the Inter-Government Authority on Development on coordinating international efforts to support the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and wider peace in Sudan and the region.

Gillian Merron: The Inter Government Authority on Development (IGAD) is represented on the Assessment and Evaluation Commission (AEC), which monitors implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), through the two seats held by member states of the IGAD Sub-Committee on Sudan. The UK also has a seat on the AEC and has regular contact and discussion with the IGAD member states' representatives.

Tibet

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress his Department has made against its policy objectives regarding Tibet since 1 January 2008; what specific outcomes have resulted from steps taken by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 15 December 200 8
	Working to improve human rights in Tibet has been a consistent Government policy priority during the course of 2008. We raised Tibet at our UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in January, where a broad discussion took place on minority rights and the role of the police, and also visited Tibet as part of that dialogue. There have also been several ministerial interventions on this issue, including statements by my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary, my noble Friend Lord Malloch-Brown and myself.
	We have consistently pressed the Chinese government to engage in open and substantive dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama. We believe that the clear expression of support for dialogue from the international community, including the UK, was helpful in encouraging the dialogue to continue. Equally, we are disappointed that the process has so far failed to achieve results, and appears to have reached an impasse. I issued a statement on 24 November calling on both sides to resume discussions without delay, focused initially on identifying points of agreement within the proposals already put forward by the Tibetan side.
	We have also continued to express our concern, to the Chinese and publicly, over those who remain in detention, the increased constraints on religious activity, and the restrictions on access to Tibetan areas for foreigners. We have also continued to raise individual cases in conjunction with our EU partners.
	We will continue to work in support of human rights in Tibet, in accordance with the written ministerial statement that my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary issued on 29 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 30-31WS.

Ukraine: Politics and Government

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of governance structures in place in Ukraine; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 18 December 2008
	An assessment of the effectiveness of Ukraine's governance structures can be found in the European Commission's review of Ukraine's progress against its European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan:
	http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/progress2008/sec08_402_en.pdf
	Ukraine has made some encouraging recent progress on democratisation, with three consecutive elections recognised as largely free and fair. But Ukraine must address a number of key issues if it is to consolidate on these recent democratic gains, strengthen its democratic institutions and achieve greater domestic political stability. Key areas of concern are high levels of corruption, weak rule of law and ambiguities in the constitution. We are working closely with Ukraine on all of these issues, in particular through the European Union, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe.

Child Benefit

Terry Rooney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how long on average it took the Child Benefit Centre to process a  (a) change of circumstances notification,  (b) new application for benefit and  (c) new application where the reason for the claim was other than a new birth in each of the last 12 months.

Stephen Timms: For information requested in  (a), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) aimed to process 95 per cent. of changes in circumstance within 10 working days in 2007-08. Performance results for January 2008 to March 2008 are as follows:
	98.0 per cent. in January 2008
	98.5 per cent. in February 2008
	95.2 per cent. in March 2008
	Performance information for 2008-09 will be available in due course. For information requested in  (b) and  (c), HM Revenue and Customs aimed to decide 69 per cent. of child benefit claims within five working days and 95 per cent. within 36 working days in 2007-08. Performance results for January 2008 to March 2008 are as follows:
	71.9 per cent. within five working days and 93.9 per cent. within 36 working days in January 2008.
	62.6 per cent. within five working days and 93.4 per cent. within 36 working days in February 2008.
	60.4 per cent. within five working days and 90.7 per cent. within 36 working days in March 2008.
	For the period from April 2008, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) on 22 October 2008,  Official Report , column 356W. Separate information is not available in the format requested.

Consolidated Fund: Fines

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer of 16 June 2008,  Official Report, column 689W, on the Consolidated Fund: fines, which part of Government holds the information on the revenue received from fines.

Yvette Cooper: The Consolidated Fund does not separately identify revenue surrendered to the Exchequer relating to fines. Public bodies involved in the collection of fines will hold the information on their revenue and will publish accounts of their activities.

Departmental Databases

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer of 6 October 2008 to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East,  Official Report, column 371W, on departmental databases, which aspects of financial exclusion MOSAIC and ACORN data were used to inform.

Angela Eagle: The Treasury used ACORN data to map the areas of financial exclusion reported in the Government's first financial inclusion strategy. MOSAIC data was used to map the demand for third sector affordable credit and to map and identify areas of high financial exclusion.

Fraud

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which Government organisations and departments are responsible for investigating fraud; what the procedures are for  (a) co-ordination of their activities and  (b) taking decisions on which agency takes the lead in investigating particular cases; if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the system; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: Each individual Government body is responsible for investigating fraud against that organisation.
	The National Fraud Strategic Authority (NFSA), launched on 1 October 2008, was set up to help organisations (both public and private) to co-ordinate their activities and work better together to build a more hostile environment for fraudsters. HM Treasury provides leadership by: outlining the responsibilities of Government sector organisations in 'Managing Public Money' and publishing data about internal fraud against Departments and executive agencies in the Government Annual Fraud Report.
	Fraud is usually discovered through the normal operation of control procedures in individual Government agencies or as a result of individuals reporting their suspicions of fraud (e.g. to hotlines operated by those agencies. Individual agencies investigate the cases that they discover or are made aware of.
	This arrangement allocates responsibility to those most immediately placed to deal with it. All Government organisations use their internal audit functions to alert them to fraud and to advise about the effectiveness of their internal control processes. Those bodies where fraud risk is highest (e.g. DWP, HMRC, MOD, NHS) employ dedicated experienced fraud experts.
	Following the recommendations of the Fraud Review, the National Fraud Reporting Centre (NFRC) and National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) will track all fraud against UK organisations including government bodies. The City of London police force plans for this new resource to start towards the end of 2010.

Government Procurement Card

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 11 December 2008,  Official Report, column 261W, on the Government Procurement Card, which are the card-issuing banks.

Angela Eagle: The Government Procurement Card service is headed up by Visa Europe together with six card issuing banks. These banks are:
	Barclaycard Commercial
	Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)
	NatWest Bank
	Ulster Bank
	The Cooperative Bank
	Lloyds TSB

Government Procurement Card

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 11 December 2008,  Official Report, column 261W, on the Government Procurement Card, what bodies other than the card issuing banks hold data on card transactions.

Angela Eagle: The card issuing banks are the main bodies that store data for transactions made through the Government Procurement Card (GPC) service.
	Some customer organisations will hold their own GPC transactional data, this being provided by the card issuing banks. Additionally some customer organisations may hand off GPC transactional data to third party service providers, to help streamline the purchase to pay process.

Knowledge Network Project

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answers of 24 January 2008,  Official Report, column 2134W, and 10 March 2008,  Official Report, column 124W, on the Knowledge Network Project, if he will place in the Library a copy of the user manuals or guidance given to civil servants on using the Knowledge Network.

Angela Eagle: The user manuals or guidance on the Knowledge Network Project are produced by the owners, and not by OGCbuying.solutions, therefore copies are not held centrally.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letters of 16 October and 15 December 2008 from the hon. Member for Billericay on a constituent, Mr. Tony Lowe.

Stephen Timms: I replied to the hon. Member on 20 January 2009.

National Insurance

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many national insurance cards were reported lost or stolen in the last 12 months; and how many valid National Insurance cards there were in that period.

Stephen Timms: A breakdown of the number of national insurance (NI) cards reported lost or stolen in the last 12 months is not held. It is also not possible to state how many valid NI cards are in circulation; controls are in place but as NI cards are purely for notification they are not treated as secure items.

National Insurance Contributions

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people ineligible to purchase voluntary national insurance contributions in respect of tax years  (a) 1996-97 and  (b) 2001-02 were sent information on the schemes for those years.

Stephen Timms: HMRC sends this information to people it considers eligible. While some ineligible people will receive it inadvertently, no data is available on how many.

UK Financial Investments

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the functions of UK Financial Investments are.

Ian Pearson: The overarching objectives for UKFI will be to protect and create value for the taxpayer as shareholder with due regard to the maintenance of financial stability and to act in a way that promotes competition. More details can be found in the letter dated 3 November from the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Chair of the Treasury Committee (right hon. John McFall), which is available in the House of Commons' Library.

UK Financial Investments

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the budget of UK Financial Investments is for  (a) 2008-09 and  (b) 2009-10;
	(2)  how many staff UK Financial Investments employs at each pay grade; and how many staff it plans to recruit in the next 12 months;
	(3)  which third party advisers have been contracted to advise UK Financial Investments on the management of its holdings in UK banks;
	(4)  what  (a) business plan and  (b) share management strategy has been put in place for UK Financial Investments; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: UKFI's annual accounts as well as HM Treasury's annual accounts will be laid before Parliament. In addition, the Chairman and Chief Executive of UKFI will make themselves available for scrutiny by the relevant parliamentary committees.

Child Protection

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the serious case review system in contributing to the protection of children.

Edward Balls: Lord Laming is preparing an independent report of progress nationally in safeguarding children, including on the effectiveness of Serious Case Reviews. He will submit his report by the end of February and I will respond fully to it.

Children: Abuse

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2008 to Question 244554, what the definition is of emotional abuse.

Beverley Hughes: Emotional abuse is defined in Chapter 1, paragraph 1.31 of "Working Together to Safeguard Children" 2006 as:
	The persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child's emotional development. It may involve conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may feature age or developmental inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions that are beyond the child's developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another, serious bullying, causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, though it may occur alone.

Children: Day Care

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many schools in each local education authority area provide wraparound school care.

Jim Knight: We do not collect information centrally on the number of schools providing wraparound care. We do, however, have information on the number of schools providing access to the full core offer of extended services in England. This includes access to a varied menu activities, combined with child care in primary schools, from 8 am to 6 pm and during school holidays where there is demand. The following table provides details of the number of schools in each local authority that are providing access to the core offer of extended services. This shows that at 6 January 2009 there were 15,199 extended schools which represents around 67 per cent. of all maintained schools.
	There are many other schools which are already providing parts of the core offer, including child care and a varied menu of activities, and developing access to other services which are not yet included in these figures.
	We want all schools to offer access to extended services by 2010.
	
		
			  Summary of schools providing access to full core offer (FCO) of extended services, by local authority 
			   All schools  Primary schools only  Secondary schools only 
			  Local authority  Number of schools: Total  Number of schools providing access to FCO of extended services  Percentage of schools providing access to FCO of extended services  Number of schools: Total  Number of schools providing access to FCO of extended services  Percentage of schools providing access to FCO of extended services  Number of schools: Total  Number of schools providing access to FCO of extended services  Percentage of schools providing access to FCO of extended services 
			 Barking and Dagenham 58 37 63.79 48 28 58.33 9 8 88.89 
			 Barnet 116 87 75.00 87 61 70.11 21 19 90.48 
			 Barnsley 97 87 89.69 81 73 90.12 14 13 92.86 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 78 49 62.82 62 35 56.45 13 12 92.31 
			 Bedfordshire 217 121 55.76 146 75 51.37 55 33 60.00 
			 Bexley 79 64 81.01 58 45 77.59 16 15 93.75 
			 Birmingham 428 425 99.30 299 296 99.00 75 75 100.00 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 79 47 59.49 56 32 57.14 10 4 40.00 
			 Blackpool 40 40 100.00 29 29 100.00 8 8 100.00 
			 Bolton 122 85 69.67 95 63 66.32 17 13 76.47 
			 Bournemouth 38 28 73.68 26 20 76.92 10 7 70.00 
			 Bracknell Forest 37 21 56.76 30 17 56.67 6 4 66.67 
			 Bradford 193 133 68.91 157 108 68.79 29 23 79.31 
			 Brent 83 58 69.88 59 37 62.71 15 13 86.67 
			 Brighton and Hove 71 54 76.06 55 49 89.09 9 4 44.44 
			 Bristol City of 152 107 70.39 110 76 69.09 20 16 80.00 
			 Bromley 97 69 71.13 76 56 73.68 17 13 76.47 
			 Buckinghamshire 229 135 58.95 181 96 53.04 34 31 91.18 
			 Bury 81 51 62.96 63 35 55.56 14 12 85.71 
			 Calderdale 103 74 71.84 85 64 75.29 15 9 60.00 
			 Cambridgeshire 239 193 80.75 201 163 81.09 30 30 100.00 
			 Camden 57 44 77.19 41 32 78.05 9 6 66.67 
			 Cheshire 317 188 59.31 259 150 57.92 42 33 78.57 
			 Cornwall 274 195 71.17 237 166 70.04 31 26 83.87 
			 Corporation of London 1 1 100.00 1 1 100.00  0 100.00 
			 Coventry 113 111 98.23 85 85 100.00 19 18 94.74 
			 Croydon 122 76 62.30 88 53 60.23 22 15 68.18 
			 Cumbria 325 248 76.31 275 209 76.00 39 30 76.92 
			 Darlington 40 28 70.00 30 20 66.67 7 5 71.43 
			 Derby City 103 103 100.00 76 76 100.00 14 14 100.00 
			 Derbyshire 417 257 61.63 352 214 60.80 47 35 74.47 
			 Devon 365 213 58.36 316 176 55.70 37 26 70.27 
			 Doncaster 125 100 80.00 103 87 84.47 17 13 76.47 
			 Dorset 173 93 53.76 134 70 52.24 34 23 67.65 
			 Dudley 107 90 84.11 78 67 85.90 21 20 95.24 
			 Durham 287 184 64.11 229 141 61.57 36 26 72.22 
			 Ealing 86 58 67.44 64 42 65.63 13 9 69.23 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 152 94 61.84 127 77 60.63 18 16 88.89 
			 East Sussex 192 143 74.48 155 106 68.39 27 27 100.00 
			 Enfield 89 57 64.04 65 45 69.23 18 11 61.11 
			 Essex 569 313 55.01 469 249 53.09 79 56 70.89 
			 Gateshead 87 86 98.85 69 69 100.00 11 10 90.91 
			 Gloucestershire 299 195 65.22 246 159 64.63 41 31 75.61 
			 Greenwich 86 63 73.26 65 44 67.69 13 12 92.31 
			 Hackney 68 41 60.29 53 34 64.15 11 7 63.64 
			 Halton 67 48 71.64 52 36 69.23 7 6 85.71 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 52 37 71.15 34 26 76.47 9 7 77.78 
			 Hampshire 528 301 57.01 429 243 56.64 71 56 78.87 
			 Haringey 82 47 57.32 63 35 55.56 12 6 50.00 
			 Harrow 69 55 79.71 54 41 75.93 10 10 100.00 
			 Hartlepool 39 35 89.74 30 29 96.67 6 5 83.33 
			 Havering 83 57 68.67 62 45 72.58 18 10 55.56 
			 Herefordshire 100 82 82.00 81 64 79.01 15 14 93.33 
			 Hertfordshire 519 282 54.34 398 216 54.27 81 49 60.49 
			 Hillingdon 89 57 64.04 65 42 64.62 18 12 66.67 
			 Hounslow 76 62 81.58 58 46 79.31 14 14 100.00 
			 Isle of Wight 67 62 92.54 46 45 97.83 19 16 84.21 
			 Isles Of Scilly 1 1 100.00 1 1 100.00  0 100.00 
			 Islington 60 37 61.67 44 32 72.73 10 2 20.00 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 36 30 83.33 26 20 76.92 4 4 100.00 
			 Kent 577 393 68.11 449 315 70.16 103 66 64.08 
			 Kingston upon Hull City Council 94 80 85.11 71 59 83.10 14 13 92.86 
			 Kingston upon Thames 48 48 100.00 34 34 100.00 10 10 100.00 
			 Kirklees 191 146 76.44 151 120 79.47 31 22 70.97 
			 Knowsley 71 54 76.06 55 41 74.55 9 9 100.00 
			 Lambeth 84 58 69.05 61 44 72.13 13 6 46.15 
			 Lancashire 623 410 65.81 484 320 66.12 84 53 63.10 
			 Leeds 264 191 72.35 219 159 72.60 39 30 76.92 
			 Leicester 107 96 89.72 81 72 88.89 18 16 88.89 
			 Leicestershire 286 190 66.43 225 150 66.67 54 36 66.67 
			 Lewisham 89 59 66.29 67 51 76.12 14 6 42.86 
			 Lincolnshire 367 240 65.40 279 171 61.29 62 54 87.10 
			 Liverpool 179 114 63.69 131 83 63.36 31 18 58.06 
			 Luton 73 63 86.30 52 46 88.46 12 10 83.33 
			 Manchester 171 97 56.73 131 64 48.85 24 23 95.83 
			 Medway 108 62 57.41 85 49 57.65 19 12 63.16 
			 Merton 54 38 70.37 43 32 74.42 8 5 62.50 
			 Middlesbrough 55 48 87.27 42 38 90.48 9 8 88.89 
			 Milton Keynes 110 109 99.09 90 89 98.89 12 12 100.00 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 96 71 73.96 71 54 76.06 14 9 64.29 
			 Newham 90 68 75.56 66 49 74.24 15 13 86.67 
			 Norfolk 430 262 60.93 364 204 56.04 52 44 84.62 
			 North East Lincolnshire 65 49 75.38 50 38 76.00 11 7 63.64 
			 North Lincolnshire 81 71 87.65 66 58 87.88 13 12 92.31 
			 North Somerset 78 58 74.36 65 47 72.31 10 10 100.00 
			 North Tyneside 77 52 67.53 56 35 62.50 15 15 100.00 
			 North Yorkshire 385 281 72.99 324 227 70.06 47 42 89.36 
			 Northamptonshire 325 193 59.38 264 146 55.30 41 37 90.24 
			 Northumberland 197 161 81.73 134 105 78.36 54 48 88.89 
			 Nottingham 106 66 62.26 81 49 60.49 18 11 61.11 
			 Nottinghamshire 346 188 54.34 287 153 53.31 46 25 54.35 
			 Oldham 108 77 71.30 90 62 68.89 15 13 86.67 
			 Oxfordshire 291 164 56.36 232 122 52.59 34 26 76.47 
			 Peterborough 73 60 82.19 57 49 85.96 11 9 81.82 
			 Plymouth 97 69 71.13 71 51 71.83 16 11 68.75 
			 Poole 39 27 69.23 27 17 62.96 9 8 88.89 
			 Portsmouth 69 69 100.00 53 53 100.00 10 10 100.00 
			 Reading 52 30 57.69 37 20 54.05 7 7 100.00 
			 Redbridge 73 46 63.01 52 28 53.85 17 14 82.35 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 59 56 94.92 45 44 97.78 11 9 81.82 
			 Richmond upon Thames 52 38 73.08 41 30 73.17 8 5 62.50 
			 Rochdale 91 53 58.24 69 39 56.52 14 7 50.00 
			 Rotherham 124 91 73.39 99 70 70.71 16 14 87.50 
			 Rutland 21 21 100.00 17 17 100.00 3 3 100.00 
			 Salford 100 80 80.00 80 66 82.50 15 12 80.00 
			 Sandwell 116 108 93.10 94 89 94.68 18 16 88.89 
			 Sefton 106 78 73.58 76 53 69.74 21 17 80.95 
			 Sheffield 174 103 59.20 133 79 59.40 27 18 66.67 
			 Shropshire 164 109 66.46 140 91 65.00 22 18 81.82 
			 Slough 45 28 62.22 27 15 55.56 11 6 54.55 
			 Solihull 84 54 64.29 65 41 63.08 14 13 92.86 
			 Somerset 270 216 80.00 223 173 77.58 39 37 94.87 
			 South Gloucestershire 113 63 55.75 94 53 56.38 16 10 62.50 
			 South Tyneside 69 65 94.20 50 48 96.00 9 8 88.89 
			 Southampton 79 50 63.29 61 43 70.49 12 6 50.00 
			 Southend-on-Sea 54 26 48.15 37 21 56.76 12 4 33.33 
			 Southwark 99 74 74.75 70 55 78.57 15 9 60.00 
			 St. Helens 67 44 65.67 54 36 66.67 9 7 77.78 
			 Staffordshire 393 275 69.97 298 208 69.80 67 45 67.16 
			 Stockport 120 86 71.67 91 67 73.63 14 9 64.29 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 77 56 72.73 60 40 66.67 14 14 100.00 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 100 87 87.00 71 59 83.10 17 17 100.00 
			 Suffolk 343 226 65.89 255 161 63.14 78 55 70.51 
			 Sunderland 115 115 100.00 82 82 100.00 17 17 100.00 
			 Surrey 389 278 71.47 309 216 69.90 53 49 92.45 
			 Sutton 60 45 75.00 41 29 70.73 14 14 100.00 
			 Swindon 78 56 71.79 61 48 78.69 11 8 72.73 
			 Tameside 96 60 62.50 74 51 68.92 17 8 47.06 
			 Telford and Wrekin 76 57 75.00 56 40 71.43 14 13 92.86 
			 Thurrock 55 48 87.27 43 39 90.70 10 9 90.00 
			 Torbay 42 26 61.90 31 20 64.52 8 6 75.00 
			 Tower Hamlets 96 84 87.50 69 60 86.96 15 14 93.33 
			 Trafford 93 59 63.44 69 41 59.42 18 18 100.00 
			 Wakefield 150 120 80.00 123 104 84.55 18 14 77.78 
			 Walsall 120 82 68.33 86 61 70.93 19 11 57.89 
			 Waltham Forest 79 62 78.48 54 43 79.63 16 13 81.25 
			 Wandsworth 78 58 74.36 56 44 78.57 11 8 72.73 
			 Warrington 86 52 60.47 70 40 57.14 12 9 75.00 
			 Warwickshire 248 247 99.60 195 195 100.00 36 36 100.00 
			 West Berkshire 80 56 70.00 66 43 65.15 10 10 100.00 
			 West Sussex 288 210 72.92 232 172 74.14 40 30 75.00 
			 Westminster 56 34 60.71 40 24 60.00 10 5 50.00 
			 Wigan 133 87 65.41 104 67 64.42 20 14 70.00 
			 Wiltshire 238 135 56.72 203 107 52.71 29 25 86.21 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 63 39 61.90 45 24 53.33 13 11 84.62 
			 Wirral 130 81 62.31 93 61 65.59 22 13 59.09 
			 Wokingham 61 34 55.74 49 26 53.06 9 7 77.78 
			 Wolverhampton 109 69 63.30 77 45 58.44 18 11 61.11 
			 Worcestershire 239 154 64.44 183 124 67.76 45 26 57.78 
			 York 67 67 100.00 54 54 100.00 10 10 100.00 
			 Total 21,833 15,199 69.61 17,076 11,713 68.59 3,355 2,590 77.20 
			  Note: All schools includes nursery, primary, secondary and special schools.  Source: TDA Extended Schools database, 6th January 2009

Children: Human Trafficking

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent discussions his Department has had with the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on child trafficking.

Beverley Hughes: The UK Action Plan on Tackling Human Trafficking published in March 2007 and revised in July 2008 sets out the responsibilities of government departments, including the department, the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the actions they are taking. Implementation of the action plan is coordinated through the Interdepartmental Ministerial Group on Human Trafficking, which last met in November 2008. The Group ensures that all relevant departments are fully engaged in tackling child trafficking.

Children: Mental Health Services

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when he expects the final report on the review of child and adolescent mental health services to be published.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The final report of the independent review of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, "Children and Young People in Mind", was published on 18 November 2008. The report of the review's findings and recommendations to Government is available on the Department for Children, Schools and Families website:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/CAMHSreview/.
	My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, welcomed the report in the written ministerial statement on 18 November 2009,  Official Report, columns 9-10WS, and set out their initial response to each of the review's 20 recommendations in a summary document that is available on the Department of Health and Department for Children, Schools and Families websites and the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament.

Children: Protection

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many children on the Child Protection Register in each region had not been allocated a health visitor in each year between 1997 and 3 August 2007; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many children on the Child Protection Register in each London borough had not been allocated a health visitor in each year between 1997 and 3 August 2007; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many children on the Child Protection Register in each London borough had not been allocated a health visitor between 9 September 2008 and the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  how many children on the Child Protection Register in each region had not been allocated a health visitor between 9 September 2008 and the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Departmental Responsibilities

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of his Department's performance against its Objective 1 to safeguard children and young people, to improve their outcomes and general well-being, and break cycles of deprivation in 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: Keeping children and young people safe and promoting their health and wellbeing are top priorities for this Government and my Department. We have a range of policies set out across the Children's Plan which contribute to these areas and have introduced a series of national indicators and success measures to monitor our performance.
	The latest assessment of our performance, against Objective 1 is detailed in the Department's Autumn Performance Report 2008 (page 78 to 87), presented to the House in December 2008.
	In addition, our progress against indicators and success measures in the Department's Public Service Agreements (which include PSA 10 to raise the educational achievement of all children and young people; PSA 11 to narrow the gap in educational achievement between children from low income and disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers respectively; PSA 12 to improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people; and PSA 13 to improve children and young people's safety) is monitored quarterly. The assessment of our performance against our PSAs is also given in the Department's Autumn Performance Report 2008.
	Our approach to tackling child poverty, namely to break the cycle of depravation, is set out in the Children's Plan and in the Child Poverty PSA (9). A key objective is to raise educational achievement for children and young people. The Child Poverty Unit (a joint unit sponsored by DCSF/DWP and the Treasury) was established to drive forward the delivery of the Treasury PSA: PSA 9 - to eradicate child poverty by 2020. Progress against PSA 9 is reported in the HM Treasury Autumn Performance Report.

Education Maintenance Allowance

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will estimate the amount of funds from the education maintenance allowance owed to students but not paid out as at 31 December 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) who operate the education maintenance allowance (EMA) for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). Mark Haysom the LSC's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in both Libraries.

GCE A Level

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of pupils in  (a) England and  (b) South West Bedfordshire constituency achieved A level passes in 2008.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: holding answer 20 January 2009
	In 2008, maintained schools and colleges in South West Bedfordshire, of those 16 to 18-year-old candidates entered for a qualification at least equivalent in size to one GCE/VCE A level in the maintained sector, 86.2 per cent. achieved at least one A level pass—that is GCE/VCE/Applied A Levels or Double Awards only, not all A level equivalents.
	For England as a whole, the corresponding figure (maintained sector only) was 75.3 per cent.
	In all schools and colleges in England (including the independent sector) in 2008, of those 16 to 18-year-old candidates entered for a qualification at least equivalent in size to one GCE/VCE A level in the maintained sector, 77.6 per cent. achieved at least one A level pass—that is GCE/VCE/Applied A Levels or Double Awards only, not all A level equivalents.

Home Education

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the answer of 19 February 2008,  Official Report, column 511W, on home education, and the subsequent establishment of the Elective Home Education Review, if he will collect information centrally on the number of children home educated in each local authority area.

Jim Knight: There are no current plans to collect information centrally about the number of home educated children. We will consider this and other aspects of our approach to home education after receiving the report of the recently commissioned Review of Home Education.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when he plans to reply to the letter of 17 November 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on Mrs. R. Campion.

Beverley Hughes: The Department for Children, Schools and Families has received a great deal of correspondence since November when the Baby P case was widely publicised and there has inevitably been a delay in responding to some letters. The correspondence referred to was answered on 15 January 2009.

Performing Right Society

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what discussions  (a) he and  (b) his Department has had with the Performing Right Society (PRS) on (i) the way in which they contact organisations who may need a PRS licence and (ii) the effect on very small businesses of having to pay for PRS licences; and if he will bring forward proposals to establish an independent complaints procedure to govern the PRS's activities.

David Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
	As the Minister for Intellectual Property I have met the PRS, and my officials have frequent exchanges with the PRS, in which these matters have been covered. The PRS have confirmed that by the end of January they will publish a draft Code of Practice governing customer relations, and establishing an independent complaints procedure. I will continue to follow this closely, and will want to see how stakeholders respond to that draft. As regards small businesses, as explained on 12 November 2008,  Official Report, column. 917, it was suggested to the PRS that they reflect on the range and type of business whom they licence.

Personal Income

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the effects of low educational attainment on employability and life time income.

Jim Knight: There is strong evidence to show significant wage and employment benefits for young people achieving well at school, compared to young people who do not attain. These benefits persist throughout peoples' lifetimes. There are also clear benefits of higher skill levels to the economy and to society. There are a number of studies looking at wage and employment benefits of qualifications. For example, research by the Centre for the Economics of Education found that people with five or more GCSEs at A*-C earn on average around 9-11 per cent. more than those without and are around 3 percentage points more likely to be employed. People achieving one to four GCSEs at A*-C earn a positive wage return of around 5 per cent. and are around 1-2 percentage points more likely to be employed than those without.
	The Department is committed to enabling as many young people as possible to achieve their potential. Raising the participation age (RPA) from 2013 will be a key lever to improve the attainment of young people as they enter the labour market. Independently verified research estimates the economic benefits of raising the participation age to be around £2.4 billion per year group over the course of their lifetime. This research was published alongside the introduction of the Education and Skills Bill to the House in November 2007.
	For further details of the methodology and data sources used to estimate the economic benefits of RPA (and the magnitude of the benefits under alternative scenarios), the full report is accessible at:
	http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/DCSF-RW026.pdf
	The research has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Primary Education

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what research his Department has evaluated into factors which contribute to disparities in achievement and attainment between primary school children.

Jim Knight: The Department has commissioned and reviewed a wide range of evidence on the factors contributing to disparities in achievement and attainment at primary school. The main factors identified by research can be summarised as follows:
	Family circumstances: Low family income has been shown to have an impact on children's outcomes at school, even when controlling for the effect of other factors associated with deprivation(1). Similarly, family socioeconomic status is known to have a significant impact on cognitive outcomes(2). The level of education achieved by parents is also strongly associated with their children's outcomes(3), as is parental involvement in education: in particular, the quality of the "home learning environment" varies between families(4) and has persistent effects during primary school(5).
	The school effect: There is strong and robust evidence to suggest that regardless of the influence of family circumstances outlined above, schools are independently important for children's outcomes. However, some schools are more effective than others, or effective in different ways(6). Analysis suggests that 17 per cent. of the unexplained variation in pupil value added scores between Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 can be explained by differences between schools(7). The school effect is multifaceted and complex, but we know that both teaching quality and leadership are two key components(8).
	Long-term impact of early learning experiences: children who attend higher quality pre-school settings perform better at primary school than similar pupils who attend a lower quality pre-school or no pre-school(9).
	Health: low birth weight and early health or developmental problems can be a significant influence on cognitive outcomes(10).
	English as an additional language: performance at primary school has been shown to vary according to whether children are eligible for support with English as an additional language(11).
	Special educational needs: children identified as having special educational needs (SEN) or who are registered as School Action Plus during Key Stage 2 demonstrate lower Key Stage 2 performance compared to similar pupils with no identified SEN, even when prior attainment and other characteristics are taken into account(12). Raw figures show that they are 52 percentage points behind children with no identified SEN on the national indicator of achieving Level 4 in both English and maths at Key Stage 2(13).
	Mobility: on average, children who change school during Year 6 demonstrate lower Key Stage 2 performance compared to similar pupils who remain at the same school(14), even when accounting for prior attainment.
	(1) Hobbs (2003); Feinstein et al (2004)
	(2) Sammons et al (2007)
	(3) Hobbs (2003)
	(4) Sylva et al. (2004)
	(5) Sammons et al (2007)
	(6) Feinstein et al. (2004); Sammons et al. (1995)
	(7 )DfES (2004)
	(8) Sammons et al. (2008); Leithwood et al (2006)
	(9) Sammons et al (2007)
	(10) Sammons et al (2007)
	(11) Sammons et al (2007)
	(12) From DCSF contextualised value-added modelling for 2007
	(13) SFR38/2007 National Curriculum Assessment, GCSE and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2006/07
	(14 )From DCSF contextualised value-added modelling for 2007
	 References
	DfES (2004) "Variations in Pupil Progress 2003". Statistical Bulletin.
	Feinstein, L. Duckworth, K, and Sabates, R (2004) A Model of the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Success. Wider Benefits of Learning Research Report 10. London: Institute of Education.
	Hobbs (2003) Understanding socioeconomic group differences in educational achievement: a literature review. Background paper for the Department for Education and Skills/HM Treasury seminar on child poverty and education outcomes, 24 November 2003.
	Leithwood, K., Day, C, Sammons, P., Harris, A., and Hopkins, D. (2006) Seven strong claims about successful school leadership. School Leadership and Management, Volume 28, Issue 1 February 2008, pages 27-42
	Sammons, P., Hillman, J. and Mortimore, P. (1995). Key Characteristics of Effective Schools: A review of school effectiveness research. London: Ofsted
	Sammons et al (2007) Summary Report: Influences on Children's Attainment and Progress in Key Stage 2: Cognitive Outcomes in Year 5. DCSF Research Report 828.
	Sammons, P., Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Siraj-Blatchford, I., Taggart, B., Barreau, S. and Grabbe, Y. (2008) Effective Pre-school and Primary Education 3-11 Project (EPPE 3-11) The Influence of School and Teaching Quality on Children's Progress in Primary School. DCSF Research Report RR028
	1. Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I. and Taggart, B. (2004) The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) Project: Final Report.

Pupil Exclusions: Disadvantaged

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many  (a) male and  (b) female pupils receiving free school meals received (i) one or more, (ii) five or more and (iii) 10 or more fixed period exclusions in each of the last 10 years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Data on the numbers of pupils with fixed period exclusions was collected for the first time for the school year 2003/04. However data linked to free school meal eligibility is only available for the school years 2005/06 and 2006/07.
	The available data for the years 2005/06 and 2006/07 is shown in the tables.
	
		
			  Primary, secondary and special schools( 1,2,3) —P upils eligible to receive free school meals with one or more episodes of fixed period exclusion by gender( 4) ,  2006/07 — England 
			   Pupils eligible for free schools meals 
			   Boys  Girls 
			   who received 1 to 4 fixed period exclusions  who received 5 to 9 fixed period exclusions  who received 10 or more fixed period exclusions  who received 1 to 4 fixed period exclusions  who received 5 to 9 fixed period exclusions  who received 10 or more fixed period exclusions 
			 Primary schools(1) 8,150 660 110 1,170 70 (5)— 
			 State funded secondaryschools(1,2) 34,310 2,970 260 16,110 1,070 70 
			 Special schools(3) 2,110 340 70 240 20 (5)— 
			 Total 44,570 3,970 440 17,520 1,150 80 
		
	
	
		
			   Percentage of the school population( 6) 
			   Boys  Girls 
			   who received 1 to 4 fixed period exclusions  who received 5 to 9 fixed period exclusions  who received 10 or more fixed period exclusions  who received 1 to 4 fixed period exclusions  who received 5 to 9 fixed period exclusions  who received 10 or more fixed period exclusions 
			 Primary schools(1) 2.45 0.20 0.03 0.36 0.02 0.00 
			 State funded secondaryschools(1,2) 15.41 1.34 0.12 7.27 0.48 0.03 
			 Special schools(3) 10.32 1.66 0.32 2.91 0.23 0.04 
			 Total 7.74 0.69 0.08 3.18 0.21 0.01 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed.  (2 )Includes CTCs and academies.  (3) Includes both maintained and non-maintained special schools.  (4) The number of pupils receiving fixed period exclusions in 2006/07.  (5) Less than 5.  (6) The number of pupils receiving fixed period exclusions for each category expressed as percentage of the school population in January 2007 of that gender and eligible for free school meals.   Note:  Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.   Source:  School Census. 
		
	
	
		
			  Primary, sec ondary and special schools( 1,2,3) —Pupils eligible to receive free school meals with one or more episodes of fixed period exclusion by gender( 4) , 2005/06( 5) —England 
			   Pupils eligible for free schools meals 
			   Boys  Girls 
			   who received 1 to 4 fixed period exclusions  who received 5 to 9 fixed period exclusions  who received 10 or more fixed period exclusions  who received 1 to 4 fixed period exclusions  who received 5 to 9 fixed period exclusions  who received 10 or more fixed period exclusions 
			 Primary schools(1) (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— 
			 State funded secondaryschools(1,2) 34,160 2,630 200 15,840 940 60 
			 Special schools(3) (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— 
			 Total (7)— (7)— (7)— (7)— (7)— (7)— 
		
	
	
		
			   Percentage of the school population( 5) 
			   Boys  Girls 
			   who received 1 to 4 fixed period exclusions  who received 5 to 9 fixed period exclusions  who received 10 or more fixed period exclusions  who received 1 to 4 fixed period exclusions  who received 5 to 9 fixed period exclusions  who received 10 or more fixed period exclusions 
			 Primary schools(1) (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— 
			 State funded secondaryschools(1,2) 14.87 1.14 0.09 6.94 0.41 0.03 
			 Special schools(3) (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— 
			 Total (7)— (7)— (7)— (7)— (7)— (7)— 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed.  (2) Includes CTCs and academies.  (3) Includes both maintained and non-maintained special schools.  (4) The number of pupils receiving fixed period exclusions in 2006/07.  (5) The number of pupils receiving fixed period exclusions for each category expressed as percentage of the school population in January 2006 of that gender and eligible for free school meals.  (6) Not available.  (7) Not applicable.   Note:  Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.   Source:  School Census.

Schools

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department spent on  (a) primary and  (b) secondary school buildings in (i) Hemel Hempstead, (ii) Hertfordshire and (iii) England in 2007-08.

Jim Knight: The Department allocates school capital funding on a local authority basis, which is then prioritised locally in accordance with asset management plans. Accordingly, records are held centrally on a local authority basis, and do not distinguish between primary and secondary schools. Allocations to Hertfordshire in 2007-08 amounted to £50.2 million. Budgeted expenditure for England in 2007-08, including PFI credits, amounted to £6,435 million.

Social Services: Haringey

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2008,  Official Report, column 1123W, on social services: Haringey, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the inspections of Haringey undertaken by Ofsted.

Beverley Hughes: OFSTED is an independent non-ministerial Government Department and HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has responsibility for matters concerning the quality of OFSTED's inspections. It is not the proper role of the Department to assess inspections. The December 2008 report of the joint area review of Haringey services, led by OFSTED, clearly identified a number of serious concerns and made recommendations to address them. In light of the report, the Secretary of State has taken urgent action to secure improvements in Haringey's safeguarding services.

Teachers: Training

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many teachers took a primary  (a) Bachelor of Education or Bachelor of Arts and  (b) post-graduate certificate in education with a (i) language and (ii) mathematics specialism in each of the last three years for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many teachers took  (a) a post-graduate certificate of education,  (b) a Bachelor of Education or Bachelor of Arts,  (c) a school-centre initial teacher training course and  (d) another teacher training route at primary level with a specialism in (i) Mandarin, (ii) Japanese, (iii) Urdu, (iv) Italian, (v) French, (vi) Spanish and (vii) German in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: The available information is given in the following table and shows recruitment to undergraduate and postgraduate primary modern foreign language initial teacher training (ITT) courses for the last five years for which data are available. Figures relating to 2008/09 are expected to be available by the end of January 2009. There are currently no primary ITT courses which specialise in mathematics; Mandarin; Japanese or Urdu.
	Over the last five years nearly 4,000 trainees in total graduated through ITT courses in primary modern languages. More trainees will be funded for these courses, including a projected 900 in 2008/09.
	The Training and Development Agency for Schools is also piloting this year, in partnership with 10 ITT providers, additional routes to boost the primary workforce teaching languages. A projected 3,000 trainees will go through these courses in 2008/09. Of these trainees, about one third are postgraduate trainees and two thirds are undergraduate trainees.
	
		
			  Number of new entrants on primary modern foreign language ITT courses between 2003/04 and 2007/08 
			   Total number of new entrants 
			   Primary— French  Primary—German  Primary—Italian  Primary—Spanish  Primary—Portuguese  Primary—total modern foreign languages 
			  2003/04   
			 Undergraduate 60 10 0 10 0 80 
			 Postgraduate 280 30 0 50 0 360 
			  of which   
			 School centred (SCITT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 330 40 0 60 0 430 
			
			  2004/05   
			 Undergraduate 60 30 0 30 0 130 
			 Postgraduate 290 60 20 60 0 440 
			  of which   
			 School centred (SCITT) (1)— 0 0 0 0 (1)— 
			 Total 360 90 20 100 0 570 
			
			  2005/06   
			 Undergraduate 60 10 0 20 0 90 
			 Postgraduate 320 70 30 140 10 570 
			  of which   
			 School centred (SCITT) (1)— 0 0 0 0 (1)— 
			 Total 380 80 30 160 10 650 
			
			  2006/07   
			 Undergraduate 70 20 0 20 0 110 
			 Postgraduate 320 80 40 160 10 600 
			  of which   
			 School centred (SCITT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 390 100 40 180 10 710 
			
			  2007/08   
			 Undergraduate 90 10 0 30 0 120 
			 Postgraduate 340 80 40 150 0 590 
			  of which   
			 School centred (SCITT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 420 90 40 170 0 720 
			 (1 )Less than 5.  Notes:  1. Coverage includes universities and other HE institutions, SCITT and OU, but excludes employment based routes.  2. Figures include trainees who are re-sitting all or part of their ITT programme.  3. Figures trainees on courses of one to five year durations.  4. Figures are individually rounded to the nearest 10 and may not sum to total.  Source:  TDA ITT Trainee Number Census

Teachers: Training

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what is the cost to the public purse of training for teaching staff at schools in  (a) England,  (b) the North East,  (c) Tees Valley district and  (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland.

Jim Knight: The requested data is not collected centrally with the required breakdown. However, the total expenditure by local authority maintained schools on development and training for all staff employed at schools and the central local authority expenditure on teacher development for 2007-08 is contained within the following table.
	
		
			  £ 
			   Expenditure by local authority maintained schools on development and training (E09) for all staff employed at school  Central local authority expenditure on teacher development 
			 England (excluding Cumbria LA) 174,611,000 28,542,000 
			
			 North East Government office region 8,180,000 2,003,000 
			
			 Tees Valley sub-region 2,346,000 368,000 
			  Of which:   
			 Darlington LA 320,000 0 
			 Hartlepool LA 320,000 80,000 
			 Middlesbrough LA 410,000 150,000 
			 Redcar and Cleveland LA 450,000 0 
			 Stockton-on-Tees LA 840,000 140,000

Teaching Methods: ICT

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what funding his Department provide for the Next Generation Learning campaign in the last 12 months; and what funding it has allocated to the campaign for the next three years.

Jim Knight: The Next Generation Learning campaign sponsored by Becta is designed to raise the awareness of parents or carers, employers and learners of the benefits of the use of technology in education and to drive greater demand for it. It demonstrates how greater engagement with parents or carers can increase a learner's potential, how effective use of technology can improve schools and colleges, and how to ensure children are safe online.
	Becta funding for the campaign for the 12 months April 2008 to March 2009 was £3.1 million. Funding for 2009-10 and 2010-2011 has yet to be confirmed but Becta expect this to be in the region of £2.5 million per year. There is no commitment to fund the campaign beyond this period at this time.

UK Council for Child Internet Safety

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families on what date the UK Council for Child Internet Safety came into operation; and what funding his Department has allocated to the Council for each of the next three years.

Beverley Hughes: The UK Council on Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) was launched by the Prime Minister on 29 September and the first meeting of the Council's Executive Board took place on 9 December. The UKCCIS secretariat is currently establishing working groups to take forward the programme of activity agreed by the Executive Board.
	DCSF allocated up to £300,000 for the establishment of UKCCIS, although the implementation of the Byron Review relies on building digital safety into planned activities and services that are already funded. Longer term, UKCCIS goals will be achieved through working in partnership with Council members, such as the upcoming 'Know IT All' guide for primary teachers that is funded jointly by the DCSF, Becta and Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA).
	Budget allocations for UKCCIS are still to be finalised for the forthcoming year.

Young People: Drugs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the percentage of  (a) males and  (b) females under the age of 25 years who used Class A drugs in 2006-07.

Alan Campbell: I have been asked to reply.
	There are two primary sources of statistics on the use of illicit drugs by young people: the British Crime Survey (which covers England and Wales) and the Drug use, Smoking and Drinking Survey among young people in England.
	According to the 2006-07 British Crime Survey 10.6 per cent of males and 5.5 per cent. of females aged 16-24 reported using a Class A drug in the last year.
	Figures from the most recent Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Survey, which was carried out in the autumn school term of 2007, show that 3.8 per cent. of male pupils and 4.2 per cent. of female pupils aged 11-15 years reported using Class A drugs in the previous 12 months.

Youth Services: South East

Howard Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the budgeted net expenditure on youth services was in the south east  (a) by each local authority and  (b) per young person aged between 13 and 19 years in each of the last eight years.

Beverley Hughes: The Government do not set a budget for spending on youth services. Local authorities receive funding from government through the revenue support grant for youth services, but it is up to them to decide how much funding should be spent based on government priorities and local needs. Tables set out the net expenditure for each local authority in the South East per year since 2001.
	
		
			  Budgeted net expenditure by local authorities in the South East of England on Youth Services1: 2001-02 to 2008-09( 2, 3) , Cash terms figures4 as reported by local authorities as at 14 January 2009 
			Budgeted net expenditure by local authorities in the South East of England Government Office Region on Youth Services( 1) 
			2001-02( 2)  2002-03( 2)  2003-04 
			  LEA number  Local authority name  £( 4)  £ per pupil aged 13-19( 5)  £( 4)  £ per pupil aged 13-19( 5)  £( 4)  £ per pupil aged 13-19( 5) 
			   England 306,762,000 136 316,288,000 137 343,365,000 147 
			 
			  South East Government Office Region 40,157,000 109 41,990,000 112 47,003,000 122 
			  Bracknell Forest 758,000 144 651,000 122 923,000 174 
			  Brighton and Hove 771,000 80 778,000 77 882,000 84 
			  Buckinghamshire 3,163,000 130 2,788,000 113 3,012,000 119 
			  East Sussex 2,012,000 99 2,071,000 101 2,453,000 117 
			  Hampshire 4,635,000 97 4,903,000 102 5,243,000 106 
			  Isle of Wight 1,008,000 159 1,306,000 202 1,287,000 199 
			  Kent 4,688,000 68 4,980,000 71 6,180,000 86 
			  Medway 909,000 68 1,130,000 83 1,236,000 88 
			  Milton Keynes 1,775,000 180 1,935,000 194 1,877,000 183 
			  Oxfordshire 2,948,000 100 3,104,000 102 3,275,000 105 
			  Portsmouth 877,000 117 903,000 118 984,000 129 
			  Reading 1,657,000 293 1,896,000 329 2,064,000 353 
			  Slough 1,065,000 204 595,000 111 1,043,000 191 
			  Southampton 956,000 112 973,000 114 1,110,000 129 
			  Surrey 5,891,000 120 6,723,000 135 7,747,000 151 
			  West Berkshire 945,000 100 997,000 103 1,129,000 116 
			  West Sussex 4,171,000 130 4,450,000 135 4,605,000 136 
			  Windsor and Maidenhead 970,000 112 1,033,000 120 1,088,000 123 
			  Wokingham 958,000 120 776,000 95 867,000 103 
		
	
	
		
			Budgeted net expenditure by local authorities in the South East of England Government Office Region on Youth Services( 1) 
			2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			  LEA number  Local authority name  £( 4)  £ per pupil aged 13-19( 5)  £( 4)  £ per pupil aged 13-19( 5)  £( 4)  £ per pupil aged 13-19( 5) 
			   England 364,016,000 153 382,468,000 159 403,384,000 166 
			 
			  South East Government Office Region 49,632,000 127 53,768,000 137 56,254,000 142 
			  Bracknell Forest 920,000 170 1,048,000 196 1,001,000 184 
			  Brighton and Hove 901,000 86 1,073,000 105 1,029,000 102 
			  Buckinghamshire 2,935,000 114 2,994,000 115 3,167,000 120 
			  East Sussex 2,564,000 120 2,532,000 117 2,470,000 113 
			  Hampshire 5,295,000 106 5,832,000 116 6,524,000 129 
			  Isle of Wight 1,286,000 197 1,339,000 201 1,231,000 186 
			  Kent 6,833,000 94 8,568,000 115 9,560,000 128 
			  Medway 1,442,000 101 1,427,000 99 1,363,000 95 
			  Milton Keynes 2,062,000 195 2,145,000 198 2,375,000 215 
			  Oxfordshire 3,503,000 110 3,613,000 112 4,037,000 123 
			  Portsmouth 1,207,000 159 1,413,000 189 1,383,000 183 
			  Reading 2,152,000 373 2,078,000 370 1,673,000 300 
			  Slough 1,108,000 198 1,210,000 211 1,067,000 177 
			  Southampton 1,251,000 143 1,368,000 162 1,511,000 181 
			  Surrey 8,252,000 159 8,763,000 168 9,361,000 177 
			  West Berkshire 1,205,000 121 1,283,000 128 1,351,000 132 
			  West Sussex 4,701,000 136 4,938,000 143 4,932,000 141 
			  Windsor and Maidenhead 1,138,000 126 1,203,000 131 1,188,000 130 
			  Wokingham 877,000 103 944,000 112 1,031,000 123 
		
	
	
		
			Budgeted net expenditure by local authorities in the South East of England Government Office Region on Youth Services( 1) 
			2007-08  2008-09( 3) 
			  LEA number  Local authority name  £( 4)  £ per pupil aged 13-19( 5)  £( 4)  £ per pupil aged 13-19( 5) 
			   England 410,373,000 170 451,393,000 188 
			   
			  South East Government Office Region 56,144,000 141 56,948,000 143 
			  Bracknell Forest 968,000 176 1,022,000 178 
			  Brighton and Hove 1,135,000 111 1,137,000 111 
			  Buckinghamshire 3,304,000 125 3,857,000 144 
			  East Sussex 1,941,000 90 2,185,000 101 
			  Hampshire 6,282,000 126 5,873,000 117 
			  Isle of Wight 1,336,000 204 1,375,000 212 
			  Kent 8,845,000 117 8,078,000 105 
			  Medway 1,437,000 101 1,782,000 124 
			  Milton Keynes 2,466,000 224 2,743,000 247 
			  Oxfordshire 4,000,000 120 3,889,000 119 
			  Portsmouth 1,297,000 171 1,431,000 193 
			  Reading 1,410,000 257 1,231,000 221 
			  Slough 1,153,000 184 1,608,000 247 
			  Southampton 1,749,000 212 1,784,000 221 
			  Surrey 9,970,000 187 10,024,000 189 
			  West Berkshire 1,323,000 127 1,374,000 132 
			  West Sussex 5,250,000 151 5,183,000 149 
			  Windsor and Maidenhead 1,246,000 136 1,343,000 149 
			  Wokingham 1,032,000 125 1,029,000 124 
			 (1) Youth service includes the following items of planned expenditure on the Youth Service and youth work: Employees Staff Training Premises related expenditure Transport related expenditure Supplies and services Third-party payments Support services Youth work costs at residential and non-residential youth centres Youth work costs at activity at outdoor and urban studies centres Grant funding to the voluntary sector for youth work. Financial data are drawn from local authorities' 2008-09 Children, Schools and Families Financial Data Collection (Budget) Statements and 2001-02 to 2007-08.Section 52 Budget Statements (Table 1) submitted to the DCSF. (2) The 2001-02 and 2002-03 figures also include any Local Authority Youth Service provision that contributed to the delivery of the Connexions Service plus any Connexions Service specific funding. (3) 2008-09 budget data remains provisional and subject to change by the local authority. (4) Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds and may not sum due to rounding. (5) The figures for £ per pupil aged 13-19 are derived by dividing the total budgeted net expenditure on youth services by the total number of pupils aged 13-19 in all nursery, primary, secondary and special schools, pupil referral units, independent schools, city technology colleges and academies derived from the January School Census returns made by schools to the Department.

Youth Support Trust

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what funding his Department has allocated to the Youth Support Trust over the next three years; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department is paying grant of £13,460,576 to the Youth Sport Trust for work in connection with the PE and Sport Strategy for Young People in 2008/09. Work in this area for 2009/10 and 2010/11 will be procured through a competitive tendering exercise, for which the Youth Sport Trust will be entitled to bid. Funding for this work will come from total Government funding of £782 million set aside to deliver the PE and Sport Strategy for Young People from 2008 to 2011.

Departmental Data Protection

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of contractors and suppliers to  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have reported that they are compliant with the Government's security standards following publication of the report, Data Handling Procedures in Government, and the accompanying document, Cross-departmental Actions: Mandatory Minimum Action, on 25 June 2008.

Michael Wills: The recommendations about data handling within government that relate to contractors and suppliers are being taken forward in a number of areas across the Ministry of Justice (MOJ).
	Cabinet Office were updated on 19 September about progress taking forward these recommendations and continuing work to review data security provisions within contracts and to seek the necessary assurances from contractors and suppliers.
	The following action has been taken which updates the position reported to Cabinet Office:
	The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) carried out an analysis of their current non IT contracts following receipt of the data security directive. 519 contracts required inclusion of the additional clauses and letters were sent to all suppliers concerned requesting the integration of these new terms and conditions. To date, 66 contractors (13 per cent.) have responded and confirmed that the additional clauses have been integrated into their contracts. The work stream is being monitored on a monthly basis at senior management team level.
	The Office for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR) have asked their suppliers to adopt an approach consistent with Ministry of Justice data handling and security requirements and has amended its Security Aspects Letters (SAL), which sets out these security requirements. To date, three of their four key suppliers have formally adopted the new protocols.
	Research unit has 10 contracts in place where suppliers have confirmed compliance with the new data security arrangements and two contracts have been awarded since June 2008 that already include the new security requirements.
	Democracy, Constitution and Law have one contract in place that complies with departmental data handling and information security requirements.
	Work is continuing with suppliers responsible for non IT contracts awarded by ex DCA Procurement, which includes contracts negotiated for Access to Justice, to put in place a standard contract amendment based on OGC terms. IT suppliers to MOJ (excluding NOMS) have been written to, reminding them of their obligations under the Data Protection Act and specifically drawing their attention to the two issues that arose in the data handling review: one, the encryption of laptops, and two. restrictions on the use of removable media for transporting personal data. 31 suppliers were contacted and 59 per cent. of those suppliers have confirmed that they are compliant. This includes the two major IT providers.
	NOMS ICT supplier contracts have been reviewed, and appropriate standard wording identified to address data security issues. Work is in hand to negotiate these changes with suppliers.
	MOJ standard terms and conditions of contract are currently being reviewed and amended to address the data security issues raised by the Hannigan Report. The revised terms will be introduced shortly across the MOJ. In the meantime, standard wording addressing the data security provisions has been issued for inclusion in new contracts awarded prior to the adoption of the new standard terms.

Departmental Parliamentary Questions

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's internal guidance for officials on the drafting of answers to Parliamentary Questions.

Michael Wills: Cabinet Office guidance for civil servants on drafting answers to parliamentary questions was updated on 25 November 2008. A copy of the guidance is in the Library of the House. It can also be found on the Cabinet Office website at:
	www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/propriety_and_ethics/civil_service/pq_guidance.aspx
	The Ministry of Justice's internal guidance for answering parliamentary questions was updated and issued on the Department's intranet on 10 December 2008. I will send the hon. Member a copy and also arrange for it to be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Drugs: Sentencing

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) custodial sentences,  (b) fines,  (c) community sentences and  (d) cautions there were in respect of (i) drug use and (ii) drug dealing in Essex in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: The requested information is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Number of persons fined, given custodial sentences and community sentences for drug offences( 1)  in Essex police force area, 2003 - 07 
			Community sentence  Fine  Immediate custody  Suspended sentence  Cautioned( 2) 
			  2003 Permitting premises to be used for unlawful purposes 6 3 3 — 5 
			  Possession of a controlled substance 165 398 42 1 676 
			  Possession with intent to supply 19 — 55 1 3 
			  Supplying or offering to supply a controlled substance 11 2 20 3 9 
			
			  2004 Permitting premises to be used for unlawful purposes 4 1 1 — 1 
			  Possession of a controlled substance 165 252 28 2 322 
			  Possession with intent to supply 18 1 42 2 3 
			  Supplying or offering to supply a controlled substance 8  32 2 8 
			
			  2005 Permitting premises to be used for unlawful purposes 1 — — 1 3 
			  Possession of a controlled substance 180 246 30 3 493 
			  Possession with intent to supply 26 2 63 7 6 
			  Supplying or offering to supply a controlled substance 8 2 33 4 3 
			
			  2006 Permitting premises to be used for unlawful purposes 1 — 1 — 3 
			  Possession of a controlled substance 117 221 31 11 802 
			  Possession with intent to supply 16 1 41 20 5 
			  Supplying or offering to supply a controlled substance 12 — 106 28 4 
			
			  2007 Permitting premises to be used for unlawful purposes 2 — — — 3 
			  Possession of a controlled substance 118 133 16 16 1,006 
			  Possession with intent to supply 13 — 59 23 22 
			  Supplying or offering to supply a controlled substance 16 — 55 21 9 
			 (1) Includes all classes of drugs (2) From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and final warnings These figures have been included in the totals This data is based on the principle offence basis  Note: These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system  Source: OMS Analytical Services. Ministry of Justice

Freedom of Information

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2009,  Official Report, column 511W, on freedom of information, for what reasons the time taken by Freedom of Information Operation Team 5 to allocate to a complaints officer following receipt between April and September 2008 was 130 days compared to 64 for all Information Commissioner's Office cases.

Michael Wills: 64 days is the average time taken for the allocation of any case received by the ICO to a complaints officer, and includes the cases handled by an initial case reception team. Less straightforward cases are passed on to more specialist operational teams.
	Once the specialist teams receive a case, the team leader conducts an initial appraisal before it is placed in a queue to be handled by the next available caseworker. The 130 days referred to above is the average time taken between receipt in FOI Operational Team 5 to allocation to a complaints officer in that team.
	This information has been provided by the ICO.
	I will write to the hon. Member to arrange for more detail to be provided on the ICO's case allocation process.

House of Commons: Right of Search

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what meetings he has attended with Mr. Speaker on the arrest of the hon. Member for Ashford and the search of his office; what was discussed; if he will place in the Library a copy of records held by his Department of such meetings; and whether he has received a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 from the hon. Member for North Essex for this information.

Jack Straw: I have not attended any meetings with Mr Speaker on the arrest of the hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green). On 16 January 2009 my Department received a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 from the hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin) for this information which will be dealt with in the statutory deadline of 20 working days.

Human Trafficking

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what public services are available to people deemed to have been trafficked.

Maria Eagle: The Government fund the Poppy project to provide specialist support to adult victims of human trafficking. Victims are provided with unconditional intensive support for an initial four-week period, with longer-term term services provided in return for co-operation with a criminal investigation. Victims are offered support with resettlement and have access to compensation through the courts and the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. It is also open to victims to apply for protection through existing humanitarian and immigration routes. Eligibility for non-third sector public services is inline with existing immigration policy.
	The Government have ratified the Council of Europe Convention Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. This will enhance our existing measures by extending the reflection-period to a minimum of 45 days and introducing new renewable one-year residence permits for those co-operating with the authorities. The temporary residence permits will allow recourse to public funds. It will also remain open to victims to apply to stay using the existing human rights and immigration protection routes.

National Offender Management Service: Manpower

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many  (a) former Probation Service and  (b) former Prison Service staff by grade are working in the (i) Reducing Re-offending Operational Policy and Third Sector Partnership Group and (ii) Stakeholder Relations Group under the auspices of the Director of Commissioning and Operational Policy at the National Offender Management Service;
	(2)  how many  (a) former Probation Service and  (b) former Prison Service staff by grade are working in the (i) Mental Health Unit and (ii) Public Health Group under the auspices of the Director of Offender Health at the National Offender Management Service;
	(3)  how many  (a) former Probation Service and  (b) former Prison Service staff by grade are working in the (i) Offender Assessment and Management Group, (ii) Interventions and Substance Misuse Group, (iii) Commissioning Women's and Young People's Group, (iv) Offender Employment, Skills and Services Group and (v) Operational Policy Unit under the auspices of the Director of Commissioning and Operational Policy at the National Offender Management Service;
	(4)  how many  (a) former Probation Service staff and  (b) former Prison Service staff by grade are working in the (i) Public Protection Unit, (ii) Race Equality Advice and Action Group, (iii) Briefing and Casework Unit, (iv) NOMS Management Board, (v) Parliamentary and Correspondents Briefing Unit and (vi) Internal Communications Unit at the National Offender Management Service;
	(5)  how many  (a) former Probation Service staff and  (b) former Prison Service staff by grade are working in the (i) Children and Young Persons Group, (ii) Women's Health Programme Unit, (iii) Social Care Unit and (iv) Parliamentary Business and Communication Group at the National Offender Management Service;
	(6)  how many former  (a) Probation Service staff and  (b) Prison Service staff of each grade are working in the Budget Support Unit at the National Offender Management Service.

Shahid Malik: Information on the number of former probation and prison staff that are now employed by each directorate, headquarters group and the National Offender Management Service Headquarters broken down by grade, is contained in the following tables.
	The information includes a number of staff (792) who are employed in the units specified who were neither former Prison Service or Probation Service staff. These staff were previously employed in the former NOMS HQ.
	The new NOMS HQ was formed from all staff from the National Probation Directorate and Prison Service Headquarters, as well as staff from the former NOMS HQ. Inevitably the majority were former Prison Service staff. This is because the Probation Service headquarters was significantly smaller as many staff are employed in probation boards and trusts. What matters is that all employees in NOMS HQ recognise that they are now working for a new agency and whatever their past employment history they are focused on public protection and reducing re-offending through integrated offender management.
	
		
			  National Offend er Management Service headquarters  s taffing: As at 31 December 2008 
			   Prison Service 
			  Directorate  Organisation  Senior civil service  Senior manager  Manager  EO and  e quiv.  AO/AA and equiv.  OSG and officer grades  Others and industrials  Total 
			 Capacity Programme Estates Planning and Development — — 1 — — — — 1 
			  Other Groups/Units 1 1 — — — — — 2 
			 Capacity Programme total  1 1 1 — — — — 3 
			   
			 Commissioning and Operational Policy Offender Assessment and Management Group — 2 — — — — — 2 
			  Other Groups/Units — — — — — — — — 
			 Commissioning and Operational Policy total  — 2 — — — — — 2 
			   
			 Director General Briefing and Casework Unit — 1 16 15 5 — — 37 
			  Internal Communications — — 4 6 1 — — 11 
			  Race Equality Action Group 1 5 17 1 2 1 — 27 
			  Other Groups/Units 1 5 7 5 3 — — 21 
			 Director General total  2 11 44 27 11 1 — 96 
			   
			 Finance and Performance Audit and Corporate Assurance 1 6 18 7 10 10 — 52 
			  Commercial and Competitions Unit — — — 1 — — — 1 
			  Financial Control and Accountancy 1 5 21 9 1 — — 37 
			  Information and Communication Technology 1 16 28 13 — — — 58 
			  Phoenix Shared Service Centre 1 30 252 287 340 112 12 1,034 
			  Procurement 1 7 17 8 — — 4 37 
			  Programmes and Project Management Group — — — 1 1 — — 2 
			  Strategy and Effectiveness Group 1 7 20 3 2 6 — 39 
			  Other Groups/Units 2 20 80 61 59 1 42 265 
			 Finance and Performance total  8 91 436 390 413 129 58 1,525 
			   
			 High Security Directorate total  2 23 46 18 25 32 — 146 
			   
			 HR total  7 77 105 28 20 14 — 251 
			   
			 Chief Operating Officer Area Offices, ROMs, DOMs and Area Teams 11 91 214 42 137 79 377 951 
			  Financial Management Unit — 2 2 1 — — — 5 
			  Office of National Commissioning — — 2 — — — — 2 
			  Performance Delivery — 1 1 — — — — 2 
			  Public Protection Unit — — 1 2 — 1 — 4 
			  Other Groups/Units 2 24 53 13 9 16 1 118 
			 Chief Operating Officer total  13 118 273 58 146 96 378 1,082 
			   
			 Commissioning and Operational Policy Commissioning, Women and Young Peoples Group 2 21 38 12 3 10 — 86 
			  Interventions Group and Substance Misuse — 20 59 8 14 2 — 103 
			  Offender Employment Skills and Services Group 1 11 53 8 11 — 1 85 
			  Operational Policy Unit — 2 3 2 — — — 7 
			  Safer Custody and Offender Policy Group 1 5 7 4 5 — — 22 
			  Other Groups/Units 2 9 13 3 8 1 1 37 
			 Commissioning and Operational Policy total  6 68 173 37 41 13 2 340 
			   
			 Offender Health  (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			   
			 Grand total  39 391 1,078 558 656 285 438 3,445 
		
	
	
		
			   Probation 
			  Directorate  Organisation  Senior civil service  Senior manager  Manager  EO and  e quiv.  AO/AA and equiv.  OSG and officer grades  Total  Former NOMS HQ  NOMS HQ total 
			 Capacity Programme Estates Planning and Development — — — — — — — 30 31 
			  Other Groups/Units — — — — — — — 87 89 
			 Capacity Programme total  — — — — — — — 117 120 
			
			 Commissioning and Operational Policy Offender Assessment and Management Group — — — — — — — 21 23 
			  Other Groups/Units — — — — — — — 3 3 
			 Commissioning and Operational Policy total  — — — — — — — 24 26 
			
			 Director General Briefing and Casework Unit — — — — — — — 1 38 
			  Internal Communications — — — — — — — — 11 
			  Race Equality Action Group — — — — — — — 2 29 
			  Other Groups/Units — — — — — — — 7 28 
			 Director General total  — — — — — — — 10 106 
			
			 Finance and Performance Audit and Corporate Assurance — — — — — — — 24 76 
			  Commercial and Competitions Unit — — — — — — — 46 47 
			  Financial Control and Accountancy — — — — — — — 12 49 
			  Information and Communication Technology — — — — — — — 44 102 
			  Phoenix Shared Service Centre — — — — — — — 1 1,035 
			  Procurement — — — — — — — 5 42 
			  Programmes and Project Management Group — — — — — — — — 2 
			  Strategy and Effectiveness Group — — — — — — — 1 40 
			  Other Groups/Units — — — — — — — 57 322 
			 Finance and Performance total  — — — — — — — 190 1,715 
			
			 High Security Directorate total  — — — — — — — 2 148 
			
			 HR total  1 6 7 3 1 — 18 14 283 
			
			 Chief Operating Officer Area Offices, ROMs, DOMs and Area Teams 6 25 18 18 11 5 83 1 1,035 
			  Financial Management Unit — — — — — — — — — 
			  Office of National Commissioning — — — — — — — 70 72 
			  Performance Delivery — — — — — — — — 2 
			  Public Protection Unit — — — — — — — 177 181 
			  Other Groups/Units 1 6 2 3 — — 12 132 262 
			 Chief Operating Officer total  7 31 20 21 11 5 95 380 1,557 
			
			 Commissioning and Operational Policy Commissioning Women and Young Peoples Group — — — — — — — 7 93 
			  Interventions Group and Substance Misuse — — — — — — — 31 134 
			  Offender Employment Skills and Services Group — — — — — — — 6 91 
			  Operational Policy Unit — — — — — — — 3 10 
			  Safer Custody and Offender Policy Group — — — — — — — 3 25 
			  Other Groups/Units — — — — — — — 5 42 
			 Commissioning and Operational Policy total  — — — — — — — 55 395 
			
			 Offender Health  (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			
			 Grand total  8 37 27 24 112 5 113 792 4,350 
			 (1) These staff are employed by the Department of Health and are therefore not included in NOMS HQ figures. They are not former Prison Service or Probation Service staff.  Notes: 1. Reducing Re-offending Operational Policy and Third Sector Partnership Group, Stakeholder Relations Group; NOMS Management Board and Parliamentary and Correspondents Briefing Unit are not recorded separately on the database. These staff are included within the Other Groups totals in the table. 2. Staff have been allocated as either Prison Service, Probation Service or former NOMS HQ based on their unit immediately prior to the creation of the new NOMS HQ No account is taken of experience before that, either in the Prison Service or Probation Service.

Probation Service: Voluntary Work

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether his Department has made an assessment for benchmarking purposes of the Japanese system of recruitment of volunteer probation officers; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: No formal assessment of the Japanese system of recruitment of volunteer probation officers has been conducted. It is not the intention of the Government to adopt it.
	Probation Officers in England and Wales are required by law to be fully qualified to undertake the role of a probation officer. Currently this means that they undertake a two year training programme and work towards a Degree in Probation Studies.

Reoffenders

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of reductions in reoffending that have been achieved by the drug programme among those in  (a) the community and  (b) custody.

David Hanson: Recent international reviews analysing large numbers of evaluations of drug treatment programmes have concluded that, on average, drug treatment programmes reduce reoffending(1).
	 (a) For offences committed on or after 4 April 2005, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 introduced the community order which replaced all previous community sentences, including community rehabilitation orders (CROs) and drug treatment and testing orders (DTTOs), for adult offenders. Under the Act, the court may impose a community order with a drug rehabilitation requirement (DRR). No robust assessment has been made to date of DRRs' effect on reducing reoffending, however research(2) concluded that DTTOs can reduce spending on drugs and reoffending, although it was not possible to determine to what extent these changes were due to the DTTO or whether other factors also contributed.
	 (b) The evaluations to date of drug treatment programmes in prisons in the UK is limited, but suggest that these programmes can reduce reoffending(3).
	Prisoners who completed the 12-step RAPt programme had statistically significantly lower rates of reconviction after two years than a comparison group (40 per cent. versus 50 per cent.)—although there may be selection bias(4) here.
	(1 )Washington State Institute for Public Policy (2006). Evidence-Based Adult Corrections Programs: What Works and What Does Not.—Washington State Institute for Public Policy. (Available online at: www.wsipp.wa.gov)
	Holloway, K., Bennett, T. and Farrington, D. (2005). The effectiveness of criminal justice and treatment programmes in reducing drug-related crime: a systematic review. Home Office Online Report 26/05. London: Home Office.
	(2) Hough. M., Clancy, A., McSweeney, T. and Turnbull, P. (2003). The impact of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders on Offending: two year reconviction results. Home Office Research Findings 184. London: Home Office.
	Turnbull, P., McSweeney, T., Webster, R., Edmunds., M and Hough, M (2000) Drug treatment and testing orders—Final Evaluation Report. Home Office Research Study 212. London: Home Office
	(3 )Ramsay, M. (ed) (2003). Prisoners' Drug Use and Treatment: Seven Research Studies. Home Office Research Study 267. London: Home Office.
	Martin, C. and Player, E. (2000). Drug Treatment in Prison: An Evaluation of the RAPt Treatment Programme. Winchester: Waterside Press.
	(4 )Selection bias is a distortion of evidence or data that arises from the way that the data are collected.

Sentencing

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average length of the  (a) sentence handed down to and  (b) period served in custody prior to being released on home detention curfew was by each prisoner sentenced for (i) murder, (ii) manslaughter, (iii) violence, broken down by specific offence, (iv) sexual offences, (v) robbery, (vi) burglary, (vii) theft and handling, (viii) fraud and forgery and (vix) drugs offences was in each year since 1999.

David Hanson: The following tables show the average determinate sentence length for custodial sentences given in each year from 1999 to 2007 by offence group. These figures exclude those serving indeterminate sentences (which includes all those sentenced for murder). Prisoners serving indeterminate sentences are not eligible for HDC.
	Details on the period served in custody prior to release on home detention curfew (HDC) could be provided only by examining individual prisoner records at disproportionate cost. However information is available on the number of prisoners released on HDC in each year from 1999 to 2007 by offence group, as shown in the following tables. These figures can be found in Prison Statistics England and Wales, 1999 to 2002 and Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2003 to 2007, copies of which can be found in the House of Commons Library, and also on the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/prisonandprobation.htm.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	The most serious violent offenders and all sexual offenders are either statutorily excluded or are presumed unsuitable for release on HDC.
	85 per cent. of those released have completed their period of HDC successfully. Only 4 per cent. of the total number of offenders released onto HDC over the entirety of the scheme has re-offended while on HDC.
	
		
			  Home Detention Curfew release by offence group( 1) , 1999  to  200 7 , England and Wales 
			   1999  2000  2001 
			   Population in sentence length band  Released  Release rate (%)  Population in sentence length band  Released  Release rate (%)  Population in sentence length band  Released  Release rate (%) 
			 Total 49,596 14,939 30 55,344 15,533 28 54,064 13,677 25 
			   
			 Violence 6,788 2,577 38 7,875 2,990 38 8,121 2,854 35 
			 Sexual offences 1,120 24 2 1,326 29 2 1,197 17 1 
			 Robbery 1,740 598 34 2,057 689 33 2,146 631 29 
			 Burglary 7,940 1,444 18 9,114 1,387 15 8,415 1,072 13 
			 Theft and handling 9,335 2,004 21 11,623 2,009 17 11,293 1,771 16 
			 Fraud and forgery 2,109 1,291 61 2,055 1,264 62 2,136 1,149 54 
			 Drug offences 4,271 2,409 56 4,483 2,448 55 4,249 2,219 52 
			 Motoring offences 7,851 1,919 24 9,070 1,748 19 9,512 1,500 16 
			 Other(2) 8,442 2,673 32 7,741 2,969 38 6,995 2,464 35 
		
	
	
		
			   2002  2003  2004 
			   Population in sentence length band  Released  Release rate (%)  Population in sentence length band  Released  Release rate (%)  Population in sentence length band  Released  Release rate (%) 
			 Total 55,370 20,525 37 57,551 21,223 37 55,810 19,294 35 
			   
			 Violence 8,235 3,693 45 8,740 3,564 41 9,079 3,160 35 
			 Sexual offences 1,193 20 2 1,238 8 1 1,160 6 1 
			 Robbery 2,376 916 39 2,877 1,257 44 2,517 959 38 
			 Burglary 8,577 2,022 24 8,310 2,066 25 7,044 1,672 24 
			 Theft and handling 11,524 2,797 24 11,067 2,817 25 9,804 2,628 27 
			 Fraud and forgery 2,159 1,262 59 2,210 1,133 51 2,468 1,225 50 
			 Drug offences 4,323 2,683 62 4,397 2,782 63 3,989 2,422 61 
			 Motoring offences 9,817 3,801 39 7,680 4,158 54 9,814 3,874 39 
			 Other(2) 7,166 3,331 47 11,032 3,438 31 9,936 3,348 34 
		
	
	
		
			   2005  2006  2007 
			   Population in sentence length band  Released  Release rate (%)  Population in sentence length band  Released  Release rate (%)  Population in sentence length band  Released  Release rate (%) 
			 Total 54,616 17,296 32 52,987 13,666 26 53,835 11,428 21 
			   
			 Violence 10,064 3,204 32 9,840 2,490 25 10,397 2,118 20 
			 Sexual offences 1,236 2 0 1,203 0 0 1,180 0 0 
			 Robbery 2,451 901 37 2,284 709 31 2,520 694 28 
			 Burglary 6,334 1,298 20 6,168 1,069 17 6,347 945 15 
			 Theft and handling 8,846 2,107 24 8,679 1,705 20 8,227 1,380 17 
			 Fraud and forgery 2,833 1,287 45 3,243 1,169 36 3,196 917 29 
			 Drug offences 4,338 2,509 58 4,296 2,347 55 4,381 2,106 48 
			 Motoring offences 8,517 3,046 36 6,984 1,923 28 5,569 1,290 23 
			 Other(2) 9,997 2,942 29 10,290 2,254 22 12,018 1,978 16 
			 (1) Offence recorded on prison IT system. Investigations suggest that around 5 per cent. of offence types recorded on this system do not relate to the offence they were released on HDC for but relate to offences committed after release from prison and before the licence expiry date for their sentence. (2) Includes the offence of bigamy. 
		
	
	
		
			  Average length of immediate custodial sentence( 1)  at all courts by offence group, 1997 to 2007 
			  Months 
			Violence against the person( 2)   Sexual offences  Burglary  Robbery  Theft and handling stolen goods  Fraud and forgery  Criminal damage  Drug offences  Manslaughter 
			 All ages 1999 15.0 37.5 15.7 35.7 4.5 8.5 15.5 28.7 59.0 
			  2000 15.0 38.7 15.9 36.1 4.2 8.7 14.9 30.1 59.0 
			  2001 15.9 37.7 16.6 35.4 4.2 8.6 15.9 32.5 58.4 
			  2002 16.6 39.6 17.5 38.9 4.1 8.4 16.4 34.5 66.2 
			  2003 18.0 40.0 17.1 39.3 4.2 8.7 16.5 35.2 62.8 
			  2004 17.9 39.9 17.5 38.4 4.3 9.2 16.7 37.3 65.0 
			  2005 17.1 41.5 17.4 35.0 4.3 10.3 15.1 35.8 55.8 
			  2006 16.1 41.0 17.1 32.3 4.3 10.9 12.9 33.8 66.4 
			  2007 16.2 42.9 16.7 31.3 4.1 10.0 12.6 31.9 61.6 
			
			 (1) Excludes life and indeterminate sentences. (2) Excluding manslaughter.

Electronic Equipment: Waste Disposal

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of EU institutions on the introduction of targets relating to the provisions of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: BERR officials have had informal discussions with European Commission officials regarding the proposed amendments to the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) directive. It is anticipated that Commission's Working Group negotiations will begin during the Swedish presidency in the second half of 2009. We will be consulting with UK stakeholders, in the near future, on the range of proposals being presented.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many special advisers were employed in his Department at each pay band on 30 November 2008; and what his Department's total expenditure on special advisers has been since its inception.

Mike O'Brien: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 15 January 2009,  Official Report, column 870W.

Energy

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will assess the merits of joint initiative undertaken by Kettering Borough Council and E.ON to reduce domestic energy consumption and the potential for a national scheme.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 22 January 2009
	 I welcome the initiative by Kettering borough council and E.ON, which involves trialling smart meters with the aim of reducing energy consumption.
	The Government have made clear that they support the provision of smart meters as a means not only of reducing energy consumption but also of providing benefits to consumers and energy markets. We therefore announced on 28 October 2008 an intention to mandate the provision of smart meters to all households.

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much the Government has spent on legal fees relating to claims made by miners with osteoarthritis of the knee caused by their work in mines in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The Department's legal fees in respect of claims made by miners for osteoarthritis of the knee is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Cost (£) 
			 2004 157,866 
			 2005 388,735 
			 2006 1,111,367 
			 2007 1,009,225 
			 2008(1) 1,407,676 
			 Total 4,074,871 
			 (1) Figures are up to November 2008.

Members: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he plans to reply to the letters of 14 October 2008 and 28 November 2008 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare on behalf of his constituent, Mrs. Marion Woore.

Joan Ruddock: I replied to the hon. Member on 20 January 2009 and apologised for the delay.

Ambulance Services: Standards

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average recorded ambulance response time for  (a) the town of Bridlington and  (b) England was in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Ben Bradshaw: Information on average ambulance response times is not collected centrally. Data on performance against ambulance response time targets at ambulance trust level is published annually by the Information Centre in the statistical bulletin Ambulance Services England. The latest bulletin, "Ambulance Services, England 2007-08", has already been placed in the Library and is available at the following link:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/audits-andperformance/ambulance/ambulance-services-england-2007-08

Cancer: Alcoholic Drinks

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the national communication campaign to improve the public's understanding of units of alcohol in relation to cancer risk factors; and how much longer he expects the campaign to continue.

Dawn Primarolo: The national communications campaign to improve the public's understanding of units of alcohol, launched in May 2008, featured two phases. The campaign messages were delivered across television, press, outdoor, radio and online channels. Phase 1 focused on improving people's knowledge of how many units of alcohol are in the alcoholic drinks they consume, while phase 2 focused on improving people's understanding of the link between their alcohol consumption and their health.
	Initial assessment of the campaign shows that there is an increased agreement, from 77-82 per cent. that we tend to drink more than is good for us. This has clearly been influenced by the campaign as for those aware of the campaign, this figure rises to 85 per cent., while for those not aware of the campaign, this figure is 72 per cent.
	The second wave of campaign tracking will be available shortly and may provide more information on how the campaign has improved the public's understanding of alcohol-related health risks.
	We intend that this campaign should be sustained over a number of years. The units campaign will continue in 2009-10, with the key tasks to optimise the units messaging and to communicate the health harms associated with drinking to higher risk groups.

Care Quality Commission: Public Consultation

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many copies of the consultation document have been downloaded from the website of the Care Quality Commission since its consultation on proposals for reviews in 2009-10 was launched.

Ben Bradshaw: The chair of the Care Quality Commission has informed us that the software supporting the operation of the commission's interim website does not support the monitoring of the number of downloads. It is therefore not possible to provide this information at present. The commission is exploring a wide range of mechanisms including the website to provide this data for 2009-10.

Departmental Data Protection

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many members of staff in his Department have been  (a) investigated,  (b) suspended and  (c) dismissed for losing (i) memory sticks, (ii) laptop computers, (iii) desktop computers and (iv) mobile telephones belonging to his Department in each year since 1997.

Ben Bradshaw: In the past two years, no member of the Department's staff has been investigated, suspended or dismissed for losing departmental information technology equipment or confidential information.
	Prior to April 2006, the human resources records of the Department were not held centrally and it would incur disproportionate cost to establish the information requested. Policy and procedures on security are constantly reviewed. Data held on the Department's laptops and portable media devices, including memory sticks is encrypted to minimise the risk of confidential data being compromised should the devices be lost or stolen.
	The Department has strict rules on data protection and security of its assets which the Department is expected to adhere to. Its policy and procedures are constantly reviewed and cases of losses or thefts are investigated. All mobile equipment reported as lost or stolen is registered on the police mobile equipment national database to aid recovery.
	Security cables have been purchased and supplied to mobile workers to secure valuable portable assets to furniture where practicable to reduce risks. The Department marks its portable equipment with an invisible forensic dye called Smartwater. The Department's security and assurance unit continues to raise security awareness and physical protection of IT equipment among its staff.
	Mobile phones and Blackberrys are deactivated centrally if reported lost or stolen.
	Disciplinary action where staff are in breach of the Department's rules for data protection and security of its assets (including negligent loss of equipment) are as follows:
	Written reprimand;
	Dismissal without notice;
	Dismissal with notice;
	Disciplinary transfer;
	Withdrawal or withholding performance-related pay;
	Levying of financial penalty;
	Ban on applying for posts; and
	Demotion.

General Practitioners

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information  (a) his Department and  (b) NHS agencies collect on the number of patients not registered with a GP.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department collects figures on the numbers of patients registered with general practitioner (GP) practices. Information on the number of patients not registered with a GP is derived from periodic survey of the population as no data is collected routinely on those people who are not registered with a GP.

Health Services: Elderly

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many elderly people have received services under the quality care and support system in  (a) Hemel Hempstead and  (b) Hertfordshire in each of the last five years.

Phil Hope: Information about the number of elderly people who have received services under the quality care and support system in Hemel Hempstead in each of the last five years is not available.
	However, the NHS Information Centre for health and social care collects and publishes information on the number of people receiving local authority funded social care in a domiciliary or residential setting in England. Information is collected from Councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities (CASSRs). Data is not collected centrally at constituency level.
	The following table shows the number of individuals in Hertfordshire aged 65 and over who received domiciliary or residential care funded wholly or in part by councils with adult social services responsibilities as at 31 March of each year.
	
		
			  Number of people aged 65 and over receiving care funded wholly or in part by councils with adult social services responsibilities as at 31 March, England 
			   Hertfordshire (rounded numbers) 
			  2004  
			 Domiciliary care (1)— 
			 Residential care(2,)( )(3,)( )(4,)( )(5) 4,035 
			   
			  2005  
			 Domiciliary care 9,900 
			 Residential care(2,)( )(3,)( )(4,)( )(5) 3,950 
			   
			  2006  
			 Domiciliary care 8,840 
			 Residential care(2,)( )(3,)( )(4,)( )(5) 3,480 
			   
			  2007  
			 Domiciliary care 11,535 
			 Residential care(2,)( )(3,)( )(4,)( )(5) 3,505 
			   
			  2008(6)  
			 Domiciliary care 13,015 
			 Residential care(2,)( )(3,)( )(4,)( )(5) 3,520 
			 (1) Not available. Data for 31 March 2004 is not comparable to future years as guidance was restated for the 2004-05 collection. (2) Data includes clients formerly in receipt of preserved rights. (3) Data includes Boyd loophole residents. (4) Includes nursing care. (5) Excludes other, unstaffed homes and adult placements. (6) Data for 2007-08 is provisional.  Source:  RAP from P2s and SR1 form Table S4.

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money has been claimed from the NHS by each other EU member state through the European Health Insurance Card and its predecessors in each of the last 11 years.

Dawn Primarolo: The following table shows the amounts claimed by other European Economic Area (EEA) member states for each of the last seven calendar claim years. Comparable information prior to 2002 is not available. The amounts are combined claims for temporary visitors (via European Health Insurance Cards), posted workers (via E106 forms) and referrals for treatment in other EEA countries (via E112 forms) as, due to the nature of the claims system between member states, it is not possible to disaggregate this data. The figures in the table reflects the fact that EEA medical costs are typically submitted by EEA member states (including the United Kingdom) one to three, and sometimes more, years in arrears.
	
		
			  Claims submitted under Article 93 of European Union Regulation (EEC) No 574/72  initial claim values (£ equivalent) by calendar claim year 
			  Country  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Austria 1,172,251 2,339,976 2,145,908 2,547,612 805,131 2,183,936 1,860,261 
			 Belgium 2,108,806 2,421,236 2,634,767 3,234,954 2,613,249 2,549,536 — 
			 Bulgaria — — — — — 26,241 — 
			 Cyprus — — 216,881 637,948 855,376 430,401 247,083 
			 Czech Republic — — 60,298 163,900 201,815 248,298 — 
			 Finland — — — 15,250 2,135 17,850 3,596 
			 France 19,137,205 21,314,986 24,789,881 27,101,124 29,743,752 36,314,550 18,674,600 
			 Germany 829,117 4,816,906 6,689,242 5,916,745 7,715,155 7,810,500 5,633,498 
			 Greece 100,465 219,116 61,623 448,216 180,168 80,628 — 
			 Iceland 11,401 12,166 24,130 20,588 71,607 20,203 48,967 
			 Ireland 9,666,772 11,499,116 12,860,659 13,505,505 14,257,564 16,644,929 17,489,362 
			 Italy 2,375,970 2,434,080 3,094,296 1,422,850 2,972,547 5,969,795 1,103,060 
			 Latvia — — — 1,091 2,185 — — 
			 Liechtenstein 2,744 1,261 4,937 2,819 3,230 2,000 — 
			 Lithuania — — 1,881 5,991 6,698 13,458 3,305 
			 Luxembourg — — — — — — — 
			 Netherlands 2,891,042 2,858,199 172,691 1,790 5,893 3,203,987 1,725,064 
			 Norway — — — — — — — 
			 Poland — — 41,387 182,700 403,405 700,080 642,496 
			 Portugal — 497 — — — — — 
			 Romania — — — — — — 2,079 
			 Slovakia — — 2,512 34,775 108,263 96,561 302,208 
			 Slovenia — — 27,428 103,391 131,670 112,358 — 
			 Spain 9,472,037 10,510,499 11,145,121 12,977,105 15,218,396 13,352,421 640,674 
			 Sweden 1,083,178 576,989 1,170,164 1,040,404 1,195,799 1,053,430 565,681 
			 Switzerland 256,189 1,591,425 2,581,536 2,666,880 3,425,678 3,584,290 3,266,491 
			  Notes: 1. Under European Union regulations claims are made on a calendar year basis. Totals for each calendar year are based on claims submitted to date. 2. £ equivalent amounts are based on European Union quarterly exchange rates for conversion of currencies for the application period January, February and March 2009. 3. The total for Ireland for 2008 is an estimate based on a trend projection. Totals for Ireland for 2008 and previous years are currently subject to a joint review with Ireland.

Home Care Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people received publicly-funded home care during the September sample week during each of the last 11 years; and at what cost in each of those years.

Phil Hope: I understand from the NHS Information Centre for health and social care that the number of people in receipt of publicly funded home care during the September sample week for each of the last 11 years, and the associated costs, are as shown in the following tables.
	The figures for the estimated number of adult service users receiving home help or home care have decreased. This is because councils are prioritising those with the highest levels of need who otherwise may have had to enter residential care and thereby lose their independence. Consequently a more intensive service is being delivered to fewer people. In addition, some home care is now purchased through direct payments and such services are not included in the figures. Direct payments were introduced for adults of working age in April 1997, through the Community Care (Direct Payments) Act 1996. Direct payments were extended to older people in 2000.
	Gross expenditure for home care is increasing year on year, because the proportion of those supported intensively to live at home independently has continued to increase.
	
		
			  Table 1: Estimated number of adult service users aged 18 and over receiving home help or home care, 2000-07( 1) : England, survey week during September 
			   Service Users : 
			   Rounded numbers 
			 2000 414,700 
			 2001 395,500 
			 2002 382,000 
			 2003 373,700 
			 2004 368,600 
			 2005 367,800 
			 2006 359,000 
			 2007 346,700 
			 (1 )Households receiving home care purchased with a direct payment are excluded.  Source:  HHl Return 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Gross current expenditure for home care for adults aged 18 and over, in cash and real terms 1997-98 to 2007-08: England 
			£ million 
			   Cash  Real( 1) 
			 1997-98 1,334 1,694 
			 1998-99 1,419 1,764 
			 1999-2000 1,539 1,877 
			 2000-01(2) 1,606 1,933 
			 2001-02 1,691 1,991 
			 2002-03 1,796 2,048 
			 2003-04(3) 1,982 2,198 
			 2004-05 2,220 2,397 
			 2005-06 2,486 2,630 
			 2006-07 2,643 2,721 
			 2007-08(4) 2,718 2,718 
			 (1) Data has been adjusted to 2007-08 prices using the gross domestic product deflator. (2) In 2000-01 the PSS EXl Return was introduced, prior to this expenditure was collected on the RO3 return and is not comparable to previous years. (3) From 2003-04 onwards additional funding was made available via the Supporting People grant. (4) 2007-08 data is provisional.  Source: RO3 and PSS EX1 Return

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average number of NHS patients on waiting lists in Gloucestershire was in  (a) 1997,  (b) 2001,  (c) 2005 and  (d) 2007, broken down by category of patient.

Ben Bradshaw: Information is not available in the format requested. The following tables show the total number of patients waiting broken down by speciality for the acute trusts in the Gloucestershire area for the periods 1997, 2002, 2005 and 2007.
	In 1997, people could wait longer than 18 months for an operation in hospital. By October 2008, the median wait for in-patient treatment has fallen to 8.2 weeks from 18.8 weeks in 1997. Waits were much longer if you include the 'hidden waits' for diagnostic tests. Since data were first collected in April 2006, the average wait for a diagnostic test has fallen from 6.1 weeks to just 1.6 weeks in November 2008.
	
		
			  Total in-patient waits in Gloucestershire—1997, 2001, 2005 and 2007; broken down by patient speciality 
			  Total waiting list 
			   East Gloucestershire NHS trust 
			  Spec. name  1997  2001 
			 General surgery 437 328 
			 Urology 116 115 
			 Trauma and Orthopaedics 773 743 
			 ENT 322 0 
			 Ophthalmology 582 1,834 
			 Oral surgery 257 299 
			 Plastic surgery 72 38 
			 Paediatric surgery 6 1 
			 Anaesthetics 39 0 
			 General medicine 85 1 
			 Gastroenterology 0 7 
			 Cardiology 81 100 
			 Rheumatology 0 1 
			 Gynaecology 461 209 
			 Total 3,231 3,676 
		
	
	
		
			  Total waiting list 
			   Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 
			  Spec. name  2005  2007 
			 General surgery 895 891 
			 Urology 347 355 
			 Trauma and Orthopaedics 2,738 2,982 
			 ENT 628 528 
			 Ophthalmology 1,037 1,124 
			 Oral surgery 549 473 
			 Plastic surgery 19 10 
			 Gastroenterology 4 0 
			 Cardiology 173 190 
			 Dermatology 0 3 
			 Neurology 0 9 
			 Gynaecology 400 544 
			 Total 6,790 7,109 
		
	
	
		
			  Total waiting list 
			   Gloucestershire Royal NHS Trust 
			  Spec. name  1997  2001 
			 General surgery 662 592 
			 Urology 312 224 
			 Trauma and Orthopaedics 1,398 1,448 
			 ENT 325 718 
			 Ophthalmology 769 0 
			 Oral surgery 396 230 
			 General medicine 382 0 
			 Gynaecology 212 137 
			 Total 4,456 3,349 
			  Notes: 1. 2002-03 saw the merger of Gloucestershire Royal NHS Trust with the acute services arm of East Gloucestershire NHS Trust. The newly created organisation was Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. 2. The figures used show a 'snap-shot' of the in-patient waiting list as at 31 March of each year. They are not cumulative figures. 3. Data relating to General medicine was collected as a patient speciality until September 2007. 4. The figures are a snapshot of the waiting list on the day of the data collection therefore the numbers will naturally fluctuate.  Source: KH07—Provider based inpatient waiting times statistics.

Maternity Services

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 26 November 2008,  Official Report, column 2094W, on maternity services, if he will place in the Library a copy of the letter sent by his Department to strategic health authority chief executives on 22 August 2008.

Ann Keen: The letter has been placed in the Library.

Musculoskeletal Disorders: Health Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of changes in demand for NHS musculoskeletal services over the next 10 years; what proportion of NHS bed days he estimates will be occupied by people with musculoskeletal problems in each of the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: The Department has not made any specific assessment of changes in demand for national health service musculoskeletal services over the next ten years nor the proportion of bed days will be occupied by people with musculoskeletal problems. It is the responsibility of primary care trusts in working with providers of services to plan for future demand using all available sources of information. To support primary care trusts in undertaking this work, the 18 weeks programme has developed a range of orthopaedic commissioning pathways for example Hip Pain, Knee Pain, Shoulder Pain, Chronic Pain Back pain and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. A further pathway is planned for arthritis and is currently under development.

Musculoskeletal Disorders: Surgery

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) primary total hip replacements,  (b) revision total hip replacements,  (c) primary total knee replacements and  (d) revision total knee replacements there have been in the NHS in each year since 1997-98; and if he will break down by the data primary care trust area for the latest year for which figures are available.

Ann Keen: The requested information has been placed in the Library.

NHS Treatment Centres

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which primary care trusts have awarded contracts to private companies to operate walk-in centres; and which company has been awarded the contract in each case.

Ben Bradshaw: With regard to which primary care trusts (PCTs) may have locally commissioned private sector companies to operate national health service (NHS) commuter walk-in centres (CWICs). This information is not held centrally.
	The Department holds information about six NHS CWiCs procured as part of the centrally funded independent sector treatment centre (ISTC) programme.
	These centres are operated by the following providers:
	
		
			  Centre location  Provider  Opened 
			 Manchester Piccadilly walk-in centre Atos Origin, IT Services UK Ltd. 17 November 2005 
			 London Liverpool Street walk-in centre Walk-in Health Ltd. 19 December 2005 
			 London Canary Wharf walk-in centre Atos Origin, IT Services UK Ltd. 21 April 2006 
			 Newcastle Central walk-in centre Care UK Clinical Services Ltd. 17 May 2006 
			 London Victoria walk-in centre Care UK Clinical Services Ltd. 11 December 2006 
			 Headrow walk-in centre, Leeds Netcare Healthcare UK Ltd. 1 February 2007

NHS: Billing

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2009,  Official Report, column 169W, on NHS: finance, what proportion of undisputed invoices for goods and services  (a) were paid and  (b) were not paid by NHS trusts within contract terms or within 10 days where no terms had been agreed since 31 October 2008.

Ben Bradshaw: National health service prompt payments to suppliers' performance information, is collected on a quarterly and on an annual basis against a 30 day target.
	The latest information available is for the period 1 April 2008 to 30 September 2008. For this period NHS trusts recorded an 84.5 per cent. achievement against the 30 day payment target for non-NHS payments leaving 15.5 per cent. outside of the target. This compares to an achievement over the first two quarters of 2007-08 of 82.6 per cent., an improvement over the whole year.
	David Nicholson, NHS Chief Executive, wrote to all NHS Trust Chief Executives on 21 October asking them to examine and review existing payment practices and payment performance and to move as closely as possible to the 10-day payment commitment that has been set for Government Departments wherever practical. Bill Moyes, Executive Chair, Monitor, has written similarly to all foundation trusts.
	However we do not currently collect performance data of total NHS bills paid within 10 days because no specific requirement has yet been placed on NHS bodies to meet this target.

NHS: Buildings

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam of 10 December 2008,  Official Report, column 164W, what the  (a) actual and  (b) risk-adjusted backlog maintenance was for each NHS trust in 2007-08.

Ben Bradshaw: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
	Public capital expenditure in the national health service has risen every year since 1999-2000 and will rise from £4.7 billion in 2008-09 to a record peak of £5.6 billion in 2009-10; at the same time 76 hospital schemes funded under the Private Finance Initiative have opened worth £5.3 billion. These record levels of capital investment in the national health service estate have resulted in a quarter of the estate occupied by NHS trusts being replaced since 1997, and the proportion of the estate that predates the establishment of the NHS itself has fallen from 50 per cent. in 1997-98 to less than 20 per cent. in 2007-08.
	NHS organisations are responsible for the provision and maintenance of facilities to support the delivery of high quality clinical services. Therefore, the NHS will locally prioritise investment to reduce backlog maintenance based on risk assessment, reconfiguration planning and available resources. The majority of backlog maintenance relates to low priority work, which trusts will undertake through maintenance programmes. Where higher risks are present, work will be undertaken as a priority. While levels of backlog maintenance vary across the NHS, it is estimated that around 75 per cent. of the total costs to eradicate backlog maintenance is concentrated in 20 per cent. of organisations.
	The Department collects data on backlog maintenance and risk adjusted backlog maintenance annually from NHS trusts through its Estates Returns Information Collection (ERIC). The data provided is not amended centrally and the responsibility for its accuracy lies with the contributing NHS organisations.

NHS: Buildings

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam of 10 December 2008,  Official Report, column 164W, on NHS: buildings, when he plans to publish backlog data for 2008-09.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department collects data on backlog maintenance annually from national health service trusts through its Estates Returns Information Collection (ERIC). The data are published at the end of October each year on the Health Estates Facilities Statistics website. The 2008-09 data will be available by the end of October 2009.

NHS: Standards

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in piloting integrated care organisations as referred to in his Department's NHS Next Stage Review, High Quality Care for All, published 30 June 2008.

Ben Bradshaw: Following the announcement that the Department would launch a pilot programme to test and evaluate clinically-led models of integrated care, and an initial event to engage with the national health service and social care organisations, the Department published a prospectus setting out the scope of the programme and process for selection, and inviting applications, in October 2008. Over 100 applications were received by the deadline of November 2008.
	These initial applications were shortlisted down to 37 sites to go forward to the final stage of the selection process during December 2008. This stage will involve further analysis of written information from sites, as well as a series of site visits.
	The aim is for the final pilot sites to be selected by the end of March 2009.
	The pilot programme will run for two years, with the evaluation taking place over three years.

Orthopaedics

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many finished episodes of care for elective orthopaedic surgery there were in each year since 1997-98.

Ben Bradshaw: The number of elective finished consultant episodes for trauma and orthopaedics in each year from 1997-98 to present is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Finished admission episodes 
			 2006-07 634,488 
			 2005-06 596,001 
			 2004-05 565,735 
			 2003-04 552,560 
			 2002-03 512,732 
			 2001-02 473,979 
			 2000-01 469,388 
			 1999-2000 458,267 
			 1998-99 458,946 
			 1997-98 421,815 
			  Note: 1. HES data cannot distinguish orthopaedic episodes only. Data has been provided where the consultant's main specialty is trauma and orthopaedics. 2. Count of elective finished admission episodes where the consultant's main specialty is trauma and orthopaedics in 1997-98 to 2006-07. 3. Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector.  Source:  Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care.

Pain: Health Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of pain management services provided by the NHS which offer individual psychological therapy; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: The Department has made no such estimate. It is the responsibility of primary care trusts to decide which services and treatments it will provide to meet the needs of its population.
	The Department does recognise that the effects of chronic pain on quality of life can be considerable, and that the treatment of pain is less successful when psychological components of pain are not addressed through an integrated pain management programme. The Department has published an 18 week patient pathway for chronic pain which provides commissioners with the support they need to commission services appropriately. A copy has been placed in the Library. NHS Choices has also provided information that will raise the awareness of chronic pain and treatments, including psychological components.
	In addition, the Department has established an Expert Patients programme (EPP) to help patients manage their long-term conditions through programmes that address issues such as healthy eating, dealing with pain and extreme tiredness, relaxation techniques and coping with feelings of depression, including a "Persistent Pain programme". The EPP has helped more than 30,000 patients since it was established in April 2002.

Prescriptions

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 1202-3W, on prescriptions, what reporting process for an error involving a controlled drug in a care establishment is required by the Commission for Social Care Inspection; to which individual services such reports are made; and if he will publish the reports made of such events occurring in the last 12 months.

Phil Hope: Care homes registered with the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) must provide a report of serious incidents to CSCI. The CSCI retains these reports in the service record and the information is used during a key inspection process when the care service star rating and inspection frequency is determined. CSCI does not inform any other agency and the content of serious incident notifications is not published.
	CSCI does not receive notification if a controlled drug error was made by the general practitioner who prescribed the controlled drug or by the community pharmacist who supplied the controlled drug. When errors relating to prescribing and supply of medicines occur within the national health service, primary care trusts are encouraged to have a procedure to report the errors to the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA). But there is no current mechanism for a social care services to make similar reports to NPSA about medicine administration errors.

Foundation Degrees

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many foundation degrees were awarded in each employment sector in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: Qualifiers from foundation degrees by employment sector are not available. The latest figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) for qualifiers from foundation degrees by subject of study have been provided as an alternative. The HESA student record only covers qualifiers from higher education institutions (HEIs).
	
		
			  Table 1: Qualifiers( 1)  from foundation degrees by subject of study, English higher education institutions, academic years 2002/03 to 2006/07 
			  Subject of study  2002/03  2003/04  2004/05  2005/06  2006/07 
			 Medicine and dentistry 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Subjects allied to medicine 65 270 405 775 1,090 
			 Biological sciences 45 85 110 235 385 
			 Veterinary science 10 0 0 0 0 
			 Agriculture and related subjects 20 145 255 425 575 
			 Physical sciences 25 30 50 80 110 
			 Mathematical sciences 5 0 0 0 0 
			 Computer science 20 125 370 680 730 
			 Engineering and technology 140 250 400 525 635 
			 Architecture, building and planning 15 20 50 165 235 
			 Social studies 70 350 700 720 1,030 
			 Law 0 10 15 40 100 
			 Business and administrative studies 220 385 745 1,110 1,445 
			 Mass communications and documentation 35 85 150 230 260 
			 Languages 0 20 15 15 20 
			 Historical and philosophical studies 0 0 0 10 70 
			 Creative arts and design 285 640 980 1,480 1,945 
			 Education 110 445 1,385 2,325 2,370 
			 Combined 0 0 0 5 0 
			 Total 1,060 2,855 5,635 8,820 11,000 
			 (1) Figures cover qualifiers from all domiciles and modes of study.  Notes: Figures are based on a HESA qualifications obtained population and have been rounded to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals.  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). 
		
	
	As HESA data is limited to those studying at HEIs, the latest figures from Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) for entrants to foundation degrees by subject of study have been provided as these cover both English HEIs and English further education institutions (FECs). Figures for entrants have been provided as an alternative as figures for qualifiers are not available.
	
		
			  Table 2: Home foundation degree entrants by subject of study( 1) , English higher education institutions and further education colleges, academic years 2004/05 and 2005/06 
			  Subject area  2004/05  2005/06 
			 Medicine and dentistry 0 0 
			 Subjects allied to medicine 1,835 2,230 
			 Biological sciences 1,015 1,205 
			 Veterinary science 0 0 
			 Agriculture and related subjects 1,210 1,645 
			 Physical sciences 130 220 
			 Mathematical sciences 0 0 
			 Computer sciences 1,570 2,270 
			 Engineering and technology 1,360 1,385 
			 Architecture, building and planning 405 730 
			 Social studies 1,740 2,385 
			 Law 310 325 
			 Business, admin studies 2,885 4,085 
			 Mass comms, documentation 440 455 
			 Languages 15 0 
			 Historical, philosophical studies 170 265 
			 Creative arts and design 2,865 3,985 
			 Education 3,905 4,915 
			 Combined 715 845 
			
			 All subjects 20,570 26,940 
			 (1) A small number of entrants were recorded as studying medicine and dentistry. It has been assumed that these were coding errors and they have been included within the 'other' subgroup of 'subjects allied to medicine'.  Source: 'Foundation degrees 2007/03' and 'Foundation degrees 2008/16' reports published by Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). 
		
	
	The academic subject classification (JACS) is not always well suited to describing foundation degrees. The new HESA record being collected for 2007-08 will facilitate the identification of courses and it is hoped that future reports will be able to describe foundation degree provision in ways that will be more recognisable to stakeholders.

Higher Education

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what information his Department holds on the work of British higher education institutions in promoting trans-national educational partnerships; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: Transnational education—the delivery of the courses and qualifications of one country in another one—brings great benefit to the individual higher education institutions (HEIs) involved as well as to the country as a whole. It makes a major contribution to the high reputation enjoyed by UK higher education in other parts of the world. The overall value of transnational higher education to the UK is estimated to be some £200 million per annum. A recent study commissioned by the Department and published by Sheffield Hallam University in May 2008 found that our institutions are well-engaged in making their high quality programmes and expertise available in other countries. The report, entitled "Transnational education and higher education institutions: exploring patterns of HE institutional activity", is available on the research and analysis pages of the Department's website. As part of the second phase of the Prime Minister's Initiative for international education (PMI2), £4 million has been allocated in 2007-08 to supporting HEIs in developing international partnerships and expanding their successful transnational education strategies to further improve the visibility of UK higher education on the international stage. Some 189 projects are being supported which involve UK HE institutions collaborating with institutions overseas.

Higher Education: Finance

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills 
	(1)  what information his Department holds on which universities and higher education institutions have received over £50,000 from  (a) a donor and  (b) a foundation that had investments in the Madoff scheme;
	(2)  what information his Department holds on which universities and higher education institutions that had investments in the  (a) Fairfield Greenwich,  (b) Tremont Capital,  (c) Union Bancaire Privée,  (d) Access International,  (e) Santander,  (f) Gabriel Capital,  (g) Fortis,  (h) Kingsgate,  (i) Normura,  (j) Bank Medici,  (k) Picower,  (l) Union Bancaire,  (m) Aozora,  (n) Maxam,  (o) Dexia,  (p) HSBC,  (q) Pioneer AL,  (r) MB,  (s) BNP,  (t) Reliance,  (u) BBVA,  (v) Nativis,  (w) Reichmuth,  (x) credit mutual,  (y) EIM and  (z) Yeshim University hedge funds in 2008;
	(3)  what information his Department holds on which universities and higher education institutions had investments in the  (a) MAN,  (b) Unicredit,  (c) Hadassah,  (d) UBI,  (e) Great Eastern and  (f) fixed hedge funds in December 2008;
	(4)  what information his Department holds on which universities and higher education institutions invested in  (a) Bernard Madoff investment securities and  (b) hedge funds that invested in the Madoff scheme; and how much money was lost in each case.

David Lammy: Higher Education Institutions are responsible for their own banking and investment decisions and we have no data on the individual decisions they have taken. But the total level of annual income from all such investments is about 2 per cent. of the total income institutions now generate each year. The Higher Education Funding Council for England will keep the situation under review but has concluded that no institution is at risk as a result of any investment decisions it has taken. There is therefore no reason for students, prospective students, businesses or charities to reconsider their dealings with universities and other higher education institutions.

National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what relevant specialist qualifications the Head of the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research holds; where the post was advertised; how many persons applied for the post; how many were short-listed for interview; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) was established in 2004. It built upon and replaced the work of the Medical Research Council's (MRC) Centre for Best Practice for Animals in Research. Dr. Vicky Robinson, the chief executive of the NC3Rs was appointed by the MRC as head of the MRC Centre in 2002 following a competitive appointment process. The position was advertised in the New Scientist and called for relevant postdoctoral research, medical or veterinary qualifications as well as previous research/clinical experience. Dr. Robinson holds an honours degree in Biology and a PhD in Development Biology, and prior to her appointment was a research scientist with considerable experience of the 3Rs, including having worked for the RSPCA Research Animals Department for three years.

Student Numbers: Newcastle Upon Tyne

Doug Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what records he holds of the number of Newcastle-based further education students who are at university in the city.

David Lammy: It is not possible to answer the question precisely in the way it has been asked on the basis of the data which is collected centrally. However, there are now 48,470 higher education students at providers of higher education in Newcastle which represents an increase of 12,845 compared with 1997. Our policies are designed to help local students progress from further to higher education in order to increase and widen participation.